MUMBAI: Taking a strict view against hate-mongering in the name of religion, the Bombay High Court pointed to his hate speech while denying bail to Hindu Rashtra Sena chief Dhananjay Desai, arrested for inciting riots that led to the death of a 24 -year-old techie in Pune last year.Mohsin Shaikh was beaten to death on the night of June 2, 2014, by a mob of 30 to 40 people, alleged to be HRS members in Hadapsar, Pune, when he was on his way home after offering the evening namaz. Police traced the rioters after they ran away leaving behind their motorbikes, which had HRS signage on them. Desai was booked for the conspiracy as he had allegedly delivered an inflammatory speech over objectionable posts on social media, which police claimed led to the rioting.``People like the applicant, who claim to lead a particular religious group, only to overawe the other religious community and create disharmony in society, create law and order situation by taking undue advantage of the religious feelings and implementing their plan into action by a young group, (this) is more than sufficient to deny bail,” said Justice Sadhna Jadhav.Desai's lawyers claimed he was not part of the mob that assaulted Mohsin or created a law and order situation in the city. Additional public prosecutor Arfan Sait pointed to the speech and other circumstantial evidence and said there was proof against Desai for criminal conspiracy.The court referred to statements of witnesses -- two who claimed to have heard the mob say Desai had allegedly asked to assault members of the minority community as he suspected they had uploaded derogatory images of Shivaji. Other witnesses had claimed how the mob chased them, and one witness, a Muslim, stated that he had claimed to be a Hindu to escape the rioters. The judge noted most of the rioters were young men, one of them just 18. “(The prosecution) has rightly submitted that Desai has taken advantage of poverty and unemployment in the society and instigated such people to satisfy his religious fanatic vendetta against a community,” the judge said, noting Desai went ahead with a meeting where he gave the inflammatory speech though police refused him permission for a gathering. “Statement of the witness showing that a plan had been hatched to attack members of a community as directed by Desai is sufficient to deny bail,” added the HC.