Parashuram Waghmore, five others acquitted

All the six accused in the Pakistan flag-hoisting case of January 1, 2012 in Sindgi town, have been acquitted by the District and Sessions Court here on Monday.

Speaking to media persons, S.H. Lagali, advocate for the accused, said that the court acquitted all the accused based on a technical lacuna found in the filing of the charge sheet.

“The court found several technical mistakes in the charge sheet, based on which the accused were acquitted,” he said.

The acquitted persons are Parashuram Waghmore, Mallanagouda Patil, Rohit Navi, Sunil Agasar, Arun Waghmore and Anil Solkar. The case of the seventh accused, Rakesh Math, has been taken up by this court since he was a juvenile during the incident.

All the accused are said to be active members of the right wing organisation, Sri Ram Sene, which is headed by Pramod Mutalik.

The accused made an attempt to hoist the Pakistan flag outside the Tahsildar’s office in Sindgi town with an intention of creating communal riots. However, their attempt was foiled by the police.

One of the main accused in the case is Parashuram Waghmore who has now been arrested by a Special Investigation Team set up to probe into the Gauri Lankesh murder. Parashumram Waghmore is believed to be the man who shot dead Gauri Lankesh.

But in the flag-hoisting case, he, along with the five other accused, have been acquitted.

Speaking to The Hindu , public prosecutor K.K. Kulkarni and Inspector-General of Police (Northern Range) Alok Kumar said that they would decide on appealing in a higher court against the acquittal only after reading the full judgment.

“It is only after reading the judgment we can reach a conclusion whether the case is fit for appeal in a higher court. Till then, we can’t say anything,” they said.

Meanwhile, some legal experts said that if the police do not appeal against the acquittal, then a Public Interest Litigation could be filed.

First Additional District Judge K.B. Geeta acquitted the accused.