Mumbai

‘Maoist contacted slum activists during collectorate stir’

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Pune: The statements of two members of Mass Movement (MM) — an organisation of youth living in slums that tries to fight social injustice — reveal that alleged Maoist Arun Bhelke who was arrested in September last year had first come in contact with two members of MM during agitations they organised.

This was revealed in the recent charge-sheet filed by the state Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS). Bhelke allegedly used a fake name when he met the MM members, according to the charge-sheet.

The statements of the two members of MM reveal that Bhelke came in touch with them during an agitation at the district collector’s office and later during other agitations.

Bhelke allegedly tried to indoctrinate them with the ideology of armed struggle against the government, says the chargesheet filed by ATS in Shivajinagar Court recently.

ATS recorded the statements of MM members Shubham Dattatraya Jagtap (19) and Shahrukh Chand Khan (21) residents of Kasewadi slums.

Arun Bhelke and his wife Kanchan Nanaware were arrested in Pune in September 2014.

Shahrukh was arrested on March 9, 2015 by Pune police for allegedly trying to extort Rs 20 lakh from Ramesh Bagwe, former minister of state for home affairs in the Maharashtra government.

Bagwe alleged that Shahrukh dropped the “name of a Maoist” leader Teltumbde to make him cough up the amount demanded. It was also alleged that Maoists had 40 persons on their hit-list. Shahrukh’s father Chand Khan refuting the allegations said his son had no links with “Maoists”.

According to ATS, Bhelke developed contacts with Shahrukh and Shubham using a fake name, Sanjay Kamble, and tried to indoctrinate them into their armed combat wing.

Police said that as per Shahrukh’s statement, he had become an active member of MM in 2013. The outfit was floated by Santosh Sawant in Kasewadi slums in Bhavani Peth to fight social injustice in 2012.

Currently headed by Vijay Jagtap, MM organises rallies and agitations against injustice” “During a morcha by our organisation outside the district collector’s office in 2013, I met a person who said he was Sanjay Kamble, a social worker from the Ambedkar movement. He took my cell phone number.

A month-and-a-half later, he called me over phone, asking me to meet at Pune station…I told him I am poor and do labour work… He said he lives in Mumbai and works for Dalits. He offered to pay me if I help him. I agreed… He gave me Rs 1,000 and returned to Mumbai by train…Later, he held meetings with me frequently in Pune station area…He always talked about rebelling against the government to fight capitalists…He was influential.

He raised issues that struck a chord with me… He started giving me books, literature continued…

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