Police in Pune have evidence that suggests Tuesdays violent bandh in the city was planned at the highest levels in the Shiv Sena,and television reporters were invited to cover the rioting and arson. On Monday night,on the eve of the bandh called by the Shiv Sena-BJP to protest the removal of Dadoji Konddeos statue from Lal Mahal,police recorded a mobile phone conversation in which Milind Narvekar,personal assistant of Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray,allegedly instructed Shiv Sena MLC Neelam Gorhe to stone and torch buses after informing TV crews. The special branch has filed a complaint against Gorhe and Narvekar at the Bund Garden police station under IPC Sections 153 (promoting enmity between groups) and 120B (criminal conspiracy). Police have submitted a copy of the FIR to Judicial Magistrate (first class) R L Wankhede,along with a CD containing the tapped conversation and four pages of transcripts. According to the complaint,Narvekar told Gorhe,Gather a mob of about 200 to 300 persons at 6 am in the morning. create a big issue in the morning itself. stone five to six buses at Pune station,Swargate,Shivajinagar ST bus stand. manage to burn a bus and inform the television news channels. At 6 am burn two trucks on Lonavla highway. it will close the highway. flow of traffic will be disrupted. people would stop coming on this road and entrance and exit points to the city will be closed. Everything should happen in the morning. and should happen all of a sudden. burn two STS buses. A senior police officer said the call came to Gorhes number 9822022155 from Narvekars number 9821226146 at 11.56 pm on December 27. When reached on the same number,Gorhe said,I have no idea about the case. Police have not spoken to me about it. I cannot say anything. Narvekar too received a call in Mumbai on the number mentioned in the complaint. But like Gorhe,he too refused to comment. Sena MLA Mahadev Babar told reporters,If the police had information that rioting was being planned,why did they not arrest Neelam Gorhe immediately after listening to her alleged conversation? Commissioner of Police Meeran Borwankar had blamed politicians from all parties for the rioting. The agitation was done keeping in mind the coming PMC elections. The citizens of Pune should not support any violence, she had said on Tuesday. Sources said police may seek the voice samples of Gorhe and Narvekar to match them with the voices on tape. The politicians may deny it is them. We will have to prove our case, said an officer.
