NCP Sharad Pawar faction worker arrested for using derogatory remarks against Fadnavis

BJP MLA Ram Kadam while speaking in the assembly accused NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) MLA Rohit Pawar of pressurising police to not take action against Yogesh Sawant. Kadam also demanded action against Pawar for interference in police action

MUMBAI: Santacruz police on Thursday arrested Yogesh Sawant for allegedly using defamatory language against deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, including a threat to kill him. The accused was sent to judicial custody.

Yogesh Sawant, who was already identified by the complainant as the user whose accounts had uploaded the errant video on social media, was picked up from his Mumbai residence late on Wednesday

On Wednesday, a Yuva Sena member named Akshay Panvelkar registered the complaint after he saw a video of the accused on social media. In the video, the accused who is an unidentified worker of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Sharad Pawar faction could be heard making threats against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader as well as the high-class Brahmins, who he said could be finished off within minutes.

BJP MLA Ram Kadam also brought up the issue in the legislative assembly, alleging that NCP MLA Rohit Pawar was pressuring the police not to act against his party workers.

“Sawant, who was already identified by the complainant as the user whose accounts had uploaded the errant video on social media, was picked up from his Mumbai residence late on Wednesday. Another team has been sent to Aurangabad to nab the main accused. Our officers also met some other party workers there who were seen in the video encouraging the speaker,” said an officer from Santacruz police. He added that these workers were not arrested but were warned to not be a part of such inciting hate speeches in the future.

Meanwhile, Sawant was produced in the Bandra sessions court on Thursday morning, after which he was remanded into judicial custody for fourteen days. The police said they were still working on identifying and tracking the person who gave the hate speech.

On the floor of the assembly on Thursday, Kadam claimed that Rohit Pawar had personally made a call to the senior officials of the Santacruz police wherein he pressured them to not take any action against his party workers despite the FIR.

BJP MLA Ram Kadam while speaking in the assembly accused NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) MLA Rohit Pawar of pressurising police to not take action against Yogesh Sawant. Kadam also demanded action against Pawar for interference in police action. Santacruz police have arrested NCP (SP) faction social media office bearer Yogesh Sawant for retweeting a video that had derogatory remarks against Fadnavis. Excise minister Shambhuraj Desai said in the Assembly that the state government will take appropriate action on it.