IAC activists prefer to be in Yerawada jail

A high voltage drama was witnessed in the court on Thursday afternoon when the Pune unit chief of India Against Corruption, Deepak Bharadiya and his associate Jaganath Hendre (65) refused to comply with the conditions of the bail granted to them and insisted that they be sent back to jail.

Bharadiya and his two associates had been arrested for their alleged involvement in carrying out a rally on July 31 without obtaining police permission. Claiming that they had committed no crime, Bharadiya and Hendre insisted that they would not comply with the conditions of the bail.

However, the Deccan Gymkhana police later submitted the chargesheet against them. As the news about the arrest and stance taken by the IAC workers spread, their supporters gathered outside the court campus and raised slogans in their support. Later, as Bharadiya and Hendre were taken to the jail, the supporters followed the police vehicle to the Yerawada Central
Prison.

While Bharadiya (35), is a businessman living in Kothrud, Hendre is a former employee of Telco living in Erandwane. They were arrested along with another IAC member Rani Karunkaran (26), a chartered finance analyst (CFA) living in Sahakarnagar, on Thursday noon.

Manohar Joshi, senior inspector incharge of Deccan Gymkhana police station, said, “The three are workers of India Against Corruption (IAC). They had organised a rally on July 31 on Jungli Maharaj road without giving any prior intimation to the police. We had registered a case against under the relevant sections of Bombay Police Act and also under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code.”

Within hours after that, the police produced them before the judicial magistrate (first class) SS Bose. The police also submitted a 30-page chargesheet against them to the court. Represented by Milind Pawar, all the three IAC workers denied the charges. Pawar alleged that the police have filed a false case against Bharadiya, Hendre and Karunakaran with an intention to demoralise the IAC workers.