Kriti Agrawal
Sanjay Kakade, a former Rajya Sabha MP and builder, was arrested Wednesday morning by Pune City Police in connection with an ongoing investigation into a car rally held in February after the release of Pune gangster Gaja Marne from custody.
Kakade (54) was brought before a Pune magistrate court and granted bail.
“Probes so far indicate that Kakade was involved in planning the rally and giving cars for it,” said Amitabh Gupta, Pune City Police Commissioner.
Although the rally sparked widespread outrage, multiple charges have since been filed against Marne (54) and his associates in connection with the procession.
The specific offense against Marne for which Kakade was arrested relates to conspiring to organize the car rally and then sharing photographs and videos of it on social media sites to terrorize people.
The offense in this case has been reported to the Bundgarden police station in Pune.
Kakade was arrested as part of an investigation into an offense reported to Bundgarden police station. Kakade, a prominent builder in Pune, was elected as an Independent Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha representing Maharashtra and was later backed by the BJP. His tenure in the Rajya Sabha ended in April 2020.
Inspector Vinayak Gaikwad, who is seeking Kakade’s five-day remand, told the court in his remand application on Wednesday, “We have received information that the arrested accused (Kakade) and Gaja Marne are directly and indirectly connected to each other. We want to find out who planned the conspiracy and who else was involved.”
However, Chinmay Inamdar, one of Kakade’s defence counsels, said, “We argued that most of the legal provisions invoked by the police are bailable. One non-bailable clause of the Criminal Amendment Act is inapplicable here. The allegation that he has links with the accused in the case was made with political motive.”
Kakade was given bail after the court heard both sides.
Marne was recently transferred to Yerawada Prison under preventive detention after being arrested by Pune rural police while on the run from Satara.
He was later transferred to Nagpur Central Prisons due to fears that placing two rival gang leaders in the same prison would compromise security.