The Navi Mumbai police arrested a 68-year-old secretary of a housing society in New Panvel for allegedly putting up slogans in support of the outlawed Popular Front of India (PFI) in an attempt to frame Muslim members of his housing society with whom he had a conflict.
According to the media reports, the police said that the office bearers and certain inhabitants of the housing society were involved in a quarrel, which prompted the accused to stick the posters in order to blame the Muslim residents.
According to police, the incident was reported on June 24 at Khandeshwar police station in Navi Mumbai, that an unknown individual had affixed stickers outside a few residences within the housing complex that stated ‘PFI Zindabad’ and ‘786’.
When the residents realised that the mischief was being committed to inciting hatred between the two communities, they reported the incident to the Khandeshwar police station, and a case was registered on June 24 under Section 153 (A) of the Indian Penal Code (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and committing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony).
During the inquiry, police officers began reviewing CCTV video of the premises, and they saw that the society’s secretary, Eknath Kevale, was regularly going to the building’s terrace. “A sticker reading ‘PFI Zindabad’ was also pasted on the water tank on the terrace,” an investigator said, according to a report by the Indian Express.
Kevale would also go to the police station on a daily basis to enquire about the continuing inquiry. “He also had reservations about a couple of families in the housing society. His movements appeared suspicious, and as we looked for more evidence, it became clear that Kevale is the culprit,” one officer stated. He was then summoned to the police station for questioning.
The report stated that investigation team then presented him with proof, and due to vigorous investigation, Kevale broke down and allegedly confessed. He stated that there was an internal conflict between the housing society’s office bearer and certain residents.
“Kevale wanted to land them in trouble due to which he tried to implicate them by writing messages with green sketch pens, and going around secretly in the wee hours of June 23, pasting stickers supporting a banned organisation,” a senior police offical was quoted as saying.
Following the confession, the man was arrested and legal proceedings are underway.
