Ten BJP workers were arrested on Saturday in connection with an assault on senior Marathi journalist Nikhil Wagle in Pune, an incident condemned by the Editors Guild of India which urged the Maharashtra government to swiftly address the issue by taking stringent action against those responsible.
The assault took place on Friday evening as Wagle and others were en route under police protection to attend 'Nirbhay Bano' public meeting organised by Rashtra Seva Dal in Dandekar Bridge area of the city.
The complaint filed by a woman, which formed the basis of the FIR, alleged that she and a few others were protecting Wagle's car even as some BJP workers hurled stones at the vehicle and injured them.
Allegedly incited by Wagle's comments on BJP veteran L K Advani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi after Advani was awarded the country's highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna, the BJP activists damaged the vehicle carrying him, causing injuries to those onboard.
The arrested individuals were named as Deepak Pote, Ganesh Ghosh, Ganesh Sherla, Raghvendra Mankar, Swapnil Naik, Pratik Desarda, Dushyant Mohol, Datta Sagre, Girish Mankar, and Rahul Paygude and they have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code related to rioting and voluntarily causing grievous hurt.
Condemning the attack on Wagle, the The Editors Guild of India in a statement called on the administration in Pune and the Maharashtra government to book the guilty.
It also noted that FIRs were registered against Wagle over his statement, and expressed deep concern about the "misuse of criminal laws against journalists in an effort to intimidate and harass them." "We urge law enforcement agencies to exercise restraint before registering complaints against journalists as an FIR, lest the process of investigation becomes a punishment itself," the Guild said.
On Friday, a case had been registered against Wagle at Vishrambaug police station for allegedly making offensive remarks against prime minister Modi and Advani under IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 500 (defamation) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief). The case was registered on a complaint lodged by BJP leader Sunil Deodhar.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge condemned the incident, citing a breakdown in law and order under the Maharashtra government.
In a post on X in Hindi, Kharge said, "Law and order has collapsed under the Maharashtra government formed by the BJP's stealing of mandate." "A politician is being brutally murdered on Facebook Live. An outspoken journalist is being attacked by unruly goons of the BJP-RSS. A BJP MLA is openly shooting at another politician in the police station," Kharge said.
He was referring to the murder of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Abhishek Ghosalkar in Mumbai and an incident in Thane district earlier this month where BJP MLA Ganpat Gaikwad opened fire inside a police station and injured a worker of the Shiv Sena.
Kharge further said that economic development of Maharashtra became possible because Congress governments maintained law and order, but the BJP government "formed with the force of the Enforcement Directorate" was playing with the security of the people of Maharashtra by spreading "goonda raj".
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.
