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Hindu Rashtra Sena has 4,000 members in Pune district

Pune : Hindu Rashtra Sena (HRS) chief Dhananjay Desai has a following of nearly 4,000 youths across Pune district, police sources say.

 "Desai has managed to attract these youths, most of whom are aged between 19 and 24, through his provocative speeches," an officer from the crime branch said. "He is accompanied by these youths wherever he goes. Nowadays, he has started moving around in a convoy of vehicles with his supporters."
The officer said the number of Desai's supporters is far bigger than that of any criminal gang in the city. "Most of his supporters are jobless and come from a financially weak background," he said.
Desai has a support base in different parts of the city, including Kothrud, Warje Malwadi, Hinjewadi, Pimpri, Chinchwad, Yerawada and Hadapsar. Several of his followers are from district areas such as Loni Kalbhor and Urali Kanchan.
Police sources say Desai shifted from Mumbai to the outskirts of Pune a few years ago. "To tend to his supporters, many of whom are from economically weaker backgrounds, Desai brokers settlements in disputes mainly related to land and other properties," a senior police officer from the Pune crime branch said.
Desai has 22 cases registered against him in Mumbai and Pune. While three of the cases are related to dacoity and possession of arms, nearly all the rest pertain to hate speeches made by him.
 The HRS chief is in the custody of the Loni Kalbhor police till Saturday for distributing pamphlets carrying objectionable content. "Once he gets bail, we plan to take preventive action against him. We will also question him in the Hadapsar murder case," the crime branch officer said.
Meanwhile, senior crime branch officials on Friday were busy collecting information about the HRS and Desai. Officials from various police stations in the city were summoned to the crime branch to provide details about the HRS. "We are collecting evidence so that we can at least begin the proceedings to impose a ban on the HRS," the officer said.

Former top cops ignored warnings
Pune, June 07, 2014: The Pune police ignored warnings against radical Hindu outfits taking root in the city, said former inspector general of police S M Mushrif on Friday.
Mushrif told TOI that in letters to two successive city police commissioners, Meeran Borwankar and Gulabrao Pol, he had cautioned them about activities of these outfits, which included training camps for their cadre. He had said these outfits would pose a serious problem if they were left unchecked.
"Fundamentalist elements in the city have eventually grown stronger and are powerful enough to brazenly conduct violent activities," Mushrif said on Friday.
"Some fundamentalist organizations and their heads, who are masterminds in various blast cases, are in Pune. I had reported to the city's police commissioners that training camps are being conducted in the city to train people to carry out violent activities. This is happening since 2000 and late Hemant Karkare, who was detecting the Malegaon blast case, had corroborated my claims with facts," he said.
Mushrif said the state government and the police have turned a blind eye to terror activities of right wing groups in Pune. In his letters, he had listed these outfits to the top cops. "They (the state and police) are showing ignorance (about the existence of these elements) or they are incapable of handling these elements," he said, adding that the city's social fabric was being destroyed.
When contacted, former city police commissioner Gulabrao Pol said he did not wish to comment on the matter. Meeran Borwankar said, "I don't recollect any specific element he had pointed at. But whenever there were communal incidents, we had taken strict action. There are various sources of intelligence information and we have taken strict action."
Mushrif said those who claim Pune is peaceful and there is no place for anti-social activities are actually trying to cover-up right wing activities.
This failure to act against them has only emboldened these groups, said national secretary of Rashtra Seva Dal, Ashwini Satav-Doke. She said, "These acts of violence were pre-planned. Without planning it is not possible to conduct attacks on specific spots and community members. Police have failed to nab Narendra Dabholkar's killers and now Mohsin's killing shows failure of the state to control anti-social elements."
Writer scholar Anvar Rajan said, "With recent political developments these groups in Pune and Maharashtra are feeling empowered and feel that they will be protected."
S M alias Raja Dixit who heads Interdisciplinary School (Humanities and Social Sciences) in University of Pune said, "We are becoming insensitive to the extent that killing of an innocent youth does not create any rage. We have amalgamation of feudal and fascist elements in our society. These elements have blocked process of democratization. Intolerance in this city and society stands as a major challenge before us," he said.

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