Pune: The Pune police on Tuesday took into custody two persons from Telangana in connection with the murder of RTI activist Vinayak Shirsat (33). Vinayak, a member of the Republican Bandhkam Kamgar Sena, a wing of the Republican Party of India (RPI), went missing ten days ago and his body was found on Monday at Mulashi near Pune.
Meanwhile, his family accused the police of not taking their complaint on time and demanding that the police inspector be named as an accused.
Vinayak’s family and supporters gathered at the Sassoon General Hospital where his post-mortem was carried out, but they refused to take the body into custody till late eve-ning. They demanded that the police arrest the acc-used as soon as possible.
Sudhakar Shirsat, Vina-yak’s father, said, “He disappeared on January 31 and we complained to the Bharati Vidyapith police the next day. But the police did not file an FIR. On Fe-bruary 5, the police lodged an FIR after receiving a call from minister Ramdas Athavale; but they did not investigate properly.”
“My son was an RTI activist and he would find out about illegal constructions in Shivane, Uttamnagar and surrounding areas. He had also received threats earlier. In our complaint, we had mentioned about the builders who had threatened him. But the police did not take any action. We feel the police inspector of Bharati Vidyapith police station, Vishnu Pawar, is also hand in glove,” he added
However, Dr K. Venktesham, commissioner of police, Pune, said, “Since we received complaints, the police have been investigating the case. Hence, we could trace the two accused within one day. The accusations raised against the police inspector are not true.
