Muslim youth

at a masjid on the night of June 2, 2014. His friend Riyaz Ahmed Mubarak Shendure was with him when they were targeted, allegedly by HRS members protesting a Facebook post of some derogatory pictures of Chhatrapati Shivaji and Bal Thackeray.

Later, a case of murder was registered at the Hadapsar police station and 21 HRS members, including their leader Dhananjay Jayram Desai alias Bhai, were arrested.

Four days ago, Justice Bhatkar, while granting bail to Vijay Rajendra Gambhire, Ganesh alias Ranjeet Shankar Yadav and Ajay Dilip Lalge, noted that the accused had attended a meeting “prior to the incident of assault. The applicants/accused otherwise had no other motive such as any personal enmity against the innocent deceased Mohsin”.

“...Dhananjay Desai was the one who was the speaker in the meeting and he instigated the audience... the transcript of the speech given by Dhananjay Desai was sufficient to show that he had incited feelings of religious discrimination. The meet was held... prior to the incident of assault,” the order stated.

Sadiq Shaikh, father of Mohsin, is stunned by this observation of the High Court. “We are not convinced by the ground on which the HC has granted bail to the accused. Is provocative speech permissible for murder of an innocent person from another religion? All three accused were arrested from the murder spot. We have decided to challenge this bail order in Supreme Court,” he said.

In its chargesheet, police said they had two witnesses who had seen and heard the discussion of the alleged HRS activists who hadgatheredatgondhalemalainhadapsar around 8.30 pm on June 2, 2014.

“The activists were carrying hockey sticks, wooden batons etc. During the meeting, they started discussing that HRS president Dhananjay Bhai has said that Muslims should be thrashed for posting derogatory pictures of Shivaji Maharaj on Facebook. Their vehicles, shops should be damaged. They should not be allowed to do any business in the area. There should be terror of HRS in Hadapsar,” the chargesheet stated.

On March 5, 2015, the High Court had rejected the bail plea of prime accused Desai.hislawyersanjaypunalekarsaidthey had filed a fresh application, seeking bail and also an application for Desai’s discharge in the case. “Hearing on these applications will take place in the HC on February 1,” Punalekar said.