Pune cops take custody of Kalicharan Maharaj in hate speech case

The Maharashtra police today took the custody of hate-speech accused Hindu seer Kalicharan Maharaj from their Chhattisgarh counterparts, days after a FIR was filed against him in Pune.

Following the transit remand granted by a court at Raipur in Chhattisgarh, the religious leader was brought to Pune where he was produced in a court.

"We have taken the custody of Kalicharan from Chhattisgarh Police and he is being brought to Pune," an official from Khadak police station said.

The Pune police had registered the case against Kalicharan Maharaj, right-wing leader Milind Ekbote, Captain Digendra Kumar (retired) and others for allegedly making inflammatory speeches during an event here and hurting religious sentiments.

The event, 'Shiv Pratap Din', was organised by Ekbote-led outfit Hindu Aghadi outfit on December 19, 2021 to celebrate the killing of Mughal commander Afzal Khan by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Later, the case was registered against the seer and others at Khadak police station under IPC Sections 295 (A) (deliberate and malicious intention of outraging religious feelings of any class), 298 (deliberate intention of wounding religious feeling of any person) and 505 (2) (false statement, rumor made in place of worship, etc, with intent to create enmity, hatred or ill-will).

As per the FIR, all the accused allegedly made inflammatory speeches with an intention to hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims and Christians and to create a communal rift between people.

Kalicharan Maharaj is also facing cases in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra for his alleged derogatory remarks against Mahatma Gandhi during an event in Raipur. He was last week arrested by the Chhattisgarh Police from Madhya Pradesh in connection with that case.