Overview
- A Pune court on Friday remanded Vikas Lawande to judicial custody until June 6 after rejecting police requests for custodial interrogation.
- Lawande was arrested on May 21 after a court revoked his interim protection from arrest in an FIR filed at Wagholi police station over remarks about Warkari spiritual figures.
- Police told the court they wanted custody to probe motive and funding for Lawande’s statements, but judges found insufficient grounds for remand.
- Officers admitted they cited the wrong crime registration number in earlier filings, and the preacher Sangram Bhandare who smeared ink on Lawande on May 9 has not been arrested.
- The case uses Sections 196 and 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and has drawn sharp political criticism from NCP (SP) leaders who say the action is selective and politically motivated.