Ms. Tamboli, the petitioner, has alleged that her husband, Rafiq Mehboob Tamboli (35), a tempo driver, was kidnapped and probably lynched by a gaggle led by Shivshankar Swami — a person claiming to be an Animal Welfare Officer appointed below a High Court-constituted committee.
When the matter was referred to as within the High Court, advocate Satish B. Talekar for the petitioner knowledgeable the Division Bench of Justices Ravindra V. Ghuge and Gautam Ashwin Ankad, that the incident passed off on the night time of June 4, 2021, when Mr. Tamboli and a cleaner named Imran Sheikh Abdul Gafar have been transporting meat from Pune’s Indapur to Mumbai. They have been intercepted close to Daund by a gaggle of males in a white automotive, who accused them of transporting beef illegally. The mob, allegedly armed with bamboo sticks and sharp weapons, reportedly dragged the 2 out of the car, assaulted them, and raised communal slogans.
The cleaner managed to flee and later narrated the sequence of occasions to the petitioner. Mr. Tamboli, nevertheless, has been untraceable since that night time.
Mr. Tamboli reached the situation at Indapur round 8.30pm. The employees of the vendor loaded the products within the tempo and handed over the payments of the products to him. The petitioner submitted to the court docket that she had a final telephonic dialog along with her husband at about 9.30pm on June 4, 2021. At that point, he knowledgeable her that he had began from Indapur and was enroute Mumbai.
“On their solution to Mumbai, a white automotive began following. The males referred to as out threats and abuses and referred to as upon them to cease the tempo. Sensing a menace, they didn’t cease the car and saved driving forward. At round 10.30 pm, the white automotive succeeded in overtaking the tempo of the petitioner and stopped the tempo. Around 5-6 males stepped out of the automotive and rushed in direction of the tempo and dragged the petitioner’s husband and the cleaner by breaking the glass of the home windows of the tempo and began assaulting them with kicks and fists,” the petition stated.
The attackers have been carrying bamboo sticks, knives, swords of their arms and have been shouting slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’.
The assailants forcibly unloaded the tempo, tore open the packages, and allegedly found beef together with different objects equivalent to inexperienced greens. Despite the driving force and cleaner producing legitimate payments for the consignment from the vendor, the mob reportedly destroyed the paperwork and continued to thrash each males brutally. According to the petition, they ignored the truth that the victims have been merely transporters and never house owners of the products. The duo was allegedly robbed in the course of the assault, with money and private belongings snatched by the attackers.
While the cleaner, managed to flee the mob and hid in close by bushes, Mr. Tamboli was chased down when he tried to flee. The attackers later took the tempo to Daund Police Station and filed FIR at round 4.12am on June 5, 2021, accusing the driving force, cleaner, meat vendor, and car proprietor of offences below Section 429 of the IPC and Sections 5(c), 9(a), and 9(b) of the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act, 1995. The FIR alleged unlawful possession, sale, and transportation of beef, however didn’t identify any of the accused people.
The petitioner contends that the FIR filed by Mr. Swami was primarily based on distorted information. On June 5, 2021, Ms. Tamboli was knowledgeable by a person named Sadik that whereas the tempo had been seized by the police, her husband was lacking. Despite repeated makes an attempt, her husband’s telephone was unreachable.
She initially approached Chunabhatti Police Station in Mumbai on June 6, 2021, to lodge a criticism, however was redirected to the jurisdictional police. At Daund Police Station, regardless of being conscious of the incident, officers refused to file an FIR for assault or abduction and as an alternative registered a lacking individual’s report solely on June 9.
The petitioner accused the police of deliberate inaction and claimed that regardless of figuring out her husband’s disappearance was linked to a violent mob assault, they failed to analyze or join the dots. She later met the cleaner, Imran Sheikh, who narrated the incident and submitted an affidavit corroborating the petitioner’s claims.
Further complaints have been made to the Superintendent of Police, Pune Rural, on June 28, 2021, naming Shivshankar Swami and others, however no FIR was registered. The petitioner alleged that police ignored her detailed complaints disclosing cognizable offences, and as an alternative shielded the accused.
She fears her husband could also be useless or detained with out hint. The petiton highlighted the sample of systemic focusing on of members of the Qureshi neighborhood and meat trade employees by self-styled ‘gau-rakshaks’, who allegedly function below the quilt of ID playing cards issued by an animal welfare committee constituted by the High Court. These vigilantes interact in mob violence with impunity and police help, the petition stated.
The petitioner highlighted that as early as January 16, 2018, the Additional Commissioner of Animal Husbandry had written to the Maharashtra authorities recommending the cancellation of appointments of Mr. Swami and Milind Ekbote on account of their involvement in “anti-legal actions.” However, no motion was taken, and Mr. Swami was allegedly allowed to proceed working with impunity.
Ms. Tamboli made a number of makes an attempt to hunt assist by social organisations, which submitted representations to senior officers, together with the then Deputy Chief Minister, Superintendent of Police (Pune Rural), and Daund Police, on at the least six events between September 2021 and August 2022. Yet, no FIR was registered, and no investigation initiated.
The petitioner alleged a deliberate cover-up by police officers performing in collusion with Mr. Swami. She identified that her husband, the only breadwinner, has left behind a distressed household—herself, a homemaker, and two youngsters aged 13 and 11—struggling emotionally and financially.
The petitioner asserted that her husband was final seen within the custody of Mr. Swami. In her plea, Ms. Tamboli has sought: manufacturing of her husband earlier than the court docket; registration of an FIR towards Swami and his associates for assault and suspected abduction; structure of a Special Investigation Team (SIT); and disciplinary motion towards erring police officers who didn’t take motion.
All India Jamatul Quresh Committee have most popular a number of representations requesting the police authorities to register offence towards Shivshankar Swami and his associates, however to no avail, Mr. Talekar added.
The Bench requested why the FIR was not lodged and whether or not the lacking individual’s investigation was accomplished by police and whether or not the police posted his pictures on digital and print media.
Additional Public Prosecutor, Konde Deshmukh submitted to the court docket that he’ll place all of the papers of investigation earlier than Superintendent of Police, Solapur who will resolve whether or not to register offence towards Shivshankar Swami.
The court docket had adjourned the matter until subsequent week.
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