Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad has raised the issue of the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar and the alleged reconnaissance of Mr. Awhad’s house by right-wing organisations a few years ago, following an altercation over an obscene post against him by one Anant Karmuse.
Mr. Kamuse is a member of the extreme right-wing organisation Shri Shivpratishthan.
On Tuesday, Mr. Karmuse alleged that he was picked up from his home on April 5 by police and men working with Mr. Awhad, who inquired about his social media post against the minister.
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According to him, he was taken to the minister’s house and beaten up in front of him. He also said that he apologised to the minister and later registered a complaint at Vartaknagar police station in Thane.
Mr. Karmuse works for Shri Shivpratisthan, led by Manohar alias Sambhaji Bhide, an extreme right-wing leader who was named in the Bhima-Koregaon riot case. Mr. Bhide was recently in the news for claiming that drinking gaumutra (cow urine) would cure patients of COVID-19.
Mr. Awhad denied having any knowledge of Mr. Karmuse being beat up, but said that the man had composed an extremely obscene post against him, which was brought to his notice by his social media team.
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“Karmuse’s deeds are not limited to the social media post. I have demanded that he should be investigated in the case relating to the murder of rationalist Dr. Narendra Dabholkar,” said the minister. Mr. Awhad, who has often taken a strong stand against the right wing, has frequently attracted criticism from them.
In the first week of March, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is investigating the Dabholkar murder case, recovered a firearm allegedly used to kill the rationalist, from the Thane creek.
In 2017, Mr. Awhad, then a member of the Opposition, had spoken in the Assembly of threats issued to him by right-wing outfits and had demanded that his personal security be beefed up. He had alleged that a reconnaissance of his Thane house was carried out.
“The killers of Dabholkar had local support in Thane to dismantle the weapon. I was on the hit-list. Karmuse’s allegiance to extreme right-wing forces has been exposed. He should be probed in detail, even for his past actions,” said the minister. Mr. Awhad said he will write to the CBI and the State Home Department in this regard, and said that in the previous Bharatiya Janata Party government, a youngster was jailed for six months for criticising the then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s officer on special duty, Nidhi Kamdar.
“Look at what this person (Mr. Karmuse) has posted. It is obscenity at the highest level. He must be put behind bars,” said Mr. Awhad.
Meanwhile, Mr. Fadnavis, who is now the Leader of the Opposition, has demanded that Mr. Awhad be sacked from the Cabinet, alleging that he used the police to beat up a civilian.