Indian Express : Pune: Tuesday,
April 11, 2017.
RTI activist
Suhas Haldankar, who exposed several civic deficiencies and openly raised his
voice against the inefficiency of local corporators in Kharalwadi area of Pimpri-Chinchwad,
was brutally murdered late last evening, allegedly by 11 persons, including a
former Congress corporator. All of them have been arrested by the police and
were remanded to eight-day police custody by a local court here. According to
police, Haldankar, who was heading home on his motorbike around 10 pm on
Sunday, was stopped en route by two of the accused at a chowk in Kharalwadi
area. Haldankar was allegedly ridiculed by the accused over a board that he had
put up, highlighting the lack of basic civic amenities, like public toilets for
women, in the Kharalwadi area. The board was put up by Haldankar just before
civic elections in Kharalwadi area, represented by two Congress corporators.
As a verbal
duel ensued between the accused and Haldankar, other accused also joined in and
started thrashing Haldankar. One of them picked up a concrete block lying
nearby and threw it at him. The concrete block hit Haldankar on the head. Other
accused also picked up concrete blocks and darted them towards Haldankar, who
collapsed in a pool of blood, one of the eye-witnesses who has given statement
to the police told this paper. Rushikesh Kate (33), an eye-witness, has lodged
a complaint of murder with Pimpri police. There are at least five eye-witnesses
in the case. Haldankar was rushed to a hospital, but was pronounced dead at the
hospital. Assistant police inspector R R Thubal is investigating this case.
Police produced the 11 accused persons before the Pimpri court on Monday. “The
court remanded all accused persons to police custody for eight days,” said
Thubal.
Accordingly,
police have arrested 11 persons former corporator Sadguru Mahadev Kadam (45)
and Kalya alias Sandip Tanaji Kalapure (39), Pratul Revji Ghadge (38), Abhijit
Balasaheb Kalapure (26), Dattatryaya alias Fetya Gulab Kalapure (28), Santosh
Magan alias Mundya Arbekar (43), Pravin alias Zingrya Mahadev Kadam (31),
Khandya alias Pravin Pandurang Savant (24), Santosh alias Babya Chandrakant
Kadam (27), Amar Mohammed Pathan (25) and Satish Mahadev Kadam (33) all
residents of Kharalwadi area, under sections 302, 323, 342, 506, 143, 148, 149
of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). A search is on for the 12th accused, Ganesh
Jadhav.
“A probe so
far revealed that accused Kalya alias Sandip Kalapure had lost his job because
of Haldankar. Kalapure worked as a watchman at the ‘bal bhavan’ run by PCMC.
Haldankar complained to Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) that
Kalapure was not at work most of the time and was not performing his duty
properly. An inquiry was initiated by PCMC against Kalapure and he lost his
job. Kalapure nursed a grudge against Haldankar. Also, Haldankar had put up
banners in the area against Kailas Kadam (who is the brother of accused Sadguru
Kadam. Both are former corporators)…..” said assistant inspector Thubal.
Tension
prevailed in Kharalwadi area throughout the day on Monday. A silent march was
taken out by local residents and activists demanding action against the
culprits and end of “goonda raj” in Kharalwadi area. Residents alleged that
murder and murder attempts had been common in Kharalwadi for years and police
had failed to act decisively against the goons. An elderly resident said goons
openly consumed liquor and police turned a blind eye towards them.
A year or so
back, Geeta Mancharkar, the then chairperson of Women and Child Welfare
Committee of PCMC, was allegedly attacked by then local corporators. Both of
them were arrested and had spent two months in jail before getting bail from
the High Court. Advocate Sushil Mancharkar, a resident of Kharalwadi, alleged
that all the arrested persons were hardened criminals. “They were all consuming
liquor openly in Kharalwadi chowk. This is very common in the area. Women fear
to step out of their homes in the evening hours,” he said, demanding the
slapping of the stringent MCOCA against the culprits.
Mancharkar
said Haldankar was a fulltime RTI activist. “He used to be very agitated if
public toilets were in shoddy condition or footpaths were broken. Using RTI, he
used to expose the wrongdoings in Kharalwadi area,” he said. RTI activist
Maruti Bhapkar said, “Haldankar was a die-hard RTI activist. Along with me, he
had participated in Anna Hazare agitation in Maharashtra and even in Delhi. But
his strength was raising local issues. He tried to ensure basic amenities for
the local residents,” he said.