Techie murder: Two more men of Hindu outfit held

Pune, June 9: Two more persons have been arrested in connection with last week's killing of an IT professional at suburban Hadapsar which witnessed violence in the wake of Facebook posts denigrating warrior king Shivaji and Shiv Sena supremo late Bal Thackeray, police said today.

Both the accused arrested last night are affiliated to self-styled outfit Hindu Rashtra Sena (HRS), suspected of involvement in the murder of 28-year-old Mohasin Shaikh, who was bludgeoned to death by a mob that went on a rampage following the detection on May 31 of controversial photographs on Facebook posted by unknown persons, an official from Hadapsar police station said.

With the fresh arrests, the number of HRS activists booked for the fatal attack on Shaikh stands at 19. HRS chief Dhananjay Desai too was arrested on charges of distributing inflammatory literature detrimental to social harmony and his role in the June 2 mob violence was being investigated, police said.

Meanwhile, tension prevailed in parts of the city last night after another FB post which reportedly contained derogatory references against a prominent national figure surfaced on the social networking site, leading to protests by Republican Party of India (RPI) activists, city police said.

A few buses were also damaged in the incidents of stone pelting even as swift action by police brought the situation under control, Pune Municipal Corporation sources said. The overall situation in the city and suburbs was peaceful and fully under control, police control room said.

PTI