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Rajeev Dattatray Tembe

Datta Mandir

Wakad Chowk

The section

K K PATHAK

CP

Pune

Intolerance and heightened religious sentiments these days seem to be getting the better of society. The newfound aggression that has been wrecking many a crime around the country was witnessed at a city temple on Sunday, when the temple’s priest and his lackeys beat a handicapped senior citizen black and blue for leaving his footwear on the temple stairs, that to them was unacceptable. Remarkably, the police view such acts of violence as non-cognisable offence.It was around noon when 64-year-oldhad gone to thenear, with his four-year-old granddaughter.They had barely removed their footwear before entering the temple, when they were approached by a man abusing them for doing so.“A man wearing a white shirt and white pant came shouting at us for leaving our slippers on the steps. He, then, punched me on my chin and my right eye. He also called out to another person wearing blue T-shirt, black pants and sun glasses. This man came accompanied by two others and they all mounted a brutal assault on me with their hands,” Tembe stated in his complaint. When Tembe identified two of his assailants, it turned out that it was the temple priest, Balasaheb Bhaguji Kalate, and his son Vikram Kalate – both residents of Wakad. The other two are yet to be identified.Bleeding profusely, Tembe called his daughter and son-in-law as soon as he could escape the blows. “It was nothing short of an attempt to murder,” Tembe’s son-in-law Digvijay Kashyap told Mirror. “They mercilessly pinned an elderly handicapped person to the floor and rained blows on him. They inflicted injuries to his chin, chest and abdomen,” he pointed out. Tembe was rushed to a private hospital and had to be given three stitches on his chin.Given the nature of injuries, the family sought serious charges against the accused and were extremely disappointed when all the police did was to register it as a non-cognisable (NC) offence, under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). “We have taken preventive action against the accused person as there was only simple injury,” explained police inspector A G Marathe, who was the officiating in-charge of Wakad police station.Police have issued a notice under Section 107 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to the Kalates.relates to a person who does any wrongful act that threatens public peace or tranquillity. “No weapon was used, no grievous injury inflicted, so we could not go beyond NC,” explained assistant police inspector BA Pandhare.However, when the commissioner of police, K KPathak, was approached on the matter, he said, “I will get the medical report examined to understand the nature of injuries. If there is any substance in the report, more serious charges will be added.”All efforts to reach the Kalates proved futile. In their statement to the police, 60-year-old Balasaheb Kalate admitted he thrashed Tembe after an argument over leaving the footwear on the temple stairs. “Kalate told us that he had flung Tembe’s slippers down the steps as he was not supposed to bring them so high up on the staircase. This infuriated Tembe, who grabbed Kalate’s collar leading up to more heated argument followed by the physical assault. He claimed that Tembe’s action attracted others who saw him taking on the temple priest. When we asked him why as a temple priest he did not restrain himself, he said he delivered a few blows when the argument got out of hand,” another police officer at the station informed.Tembe and his family are not alone in thinking that the cops have gone soft on the case. “It appears there is some political pressure at play which has kept the cops from pressing serious charges. The accused should have been arrested and put behind bars,” observed advocate Vijay Pamnani, who was of the opinion that the case warranted a proper FIR.█ I will get the medical report examined. If there is any substance in the report, more serious charges will be added