Pune Police have registered a second case linked to the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) student protest, this time against five people accused of flying and filming with a drone without the required permission at the agitation site near the S.M. Joshi Bridge in Navi Peth. The drone was seized, according to the police complaint reported by Sakal.
The case was registered at Vishrambaug Police Station on a complaint filed by police constable Yuvraj Bharat Tole. The accused have been identified as Digambar Bharat Khare, Pramod Patil, Youth Congress leader Shivraj More, Rishikesh Gagurde and Akshay Kamble. Police have invoked Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
According to the complaint, Tole was on duty at the S.M. Joshi Bridge at around 7.30 pm on Monday, October 5, when he noticed a drone flying over the protest site. Police said Khare was found operating the drone with a remote controller near a generator at the rear of the protest location. When asked whether he had the required licence and local police permission, he allegedly said that he did not have either, the complaint stated.
Police further said Khare told them that he had brought the drone at the request of others involved in the protest. The case concerns the use of the drone for filming at the agitation site, where students have been protesting with demands including the resignation of MPSC chairperson Vivek Bhimanwar.
The drone case follows another FIR registered against 15 people, including MPSC student representatives, for holding the protest on Lal Bahadur Shastri Road in Navi Peth after police informed them that permission for the agitation had been cancelled. The two cases now form part of the police action surrounding the ongoing protest.
The protest has also drawn political intervention. Nationalist Congress Party leader Rohit Pawar said police were registering cases against students and issuing them notices despite his participation as a public representative. He alleged that the action was intended to trouble students and break up the agitation, and said he had met senior police officials at Vishrambaug Police Station. Pawar added that applications had been submitted seeking permission for the protest to continue.
Pawar said the agitation would not end until MPSC chairperson Vivek Bhimanwar resigned. Vishrambaug Police are conducting further investigation into the drone case.
