Mohol murder case: Lawyers stand in solidarity with arrested colleagues

The other two suspects arrested in the case are lawyers Ravindra Pawar and Sanjay Uddan, who according to police were found with other suspects in the two cars

The court proceedings for the Sharad Mohol murder case on Saturday saw an overwhelming turnout of lawyers after the arrest of two legal advisors in the case, prompting an unprecedented deployment of security measures.

The focal point of the hearing was the appearance of advocate Pawar and Uddan, along with other prime accused individuals, who were brought to court under tight security. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

A day after eight suspects were arrested in the Sharad Mohol case, the Pune court remanded six to police custody till January 10. The other two suspects arrested in the case are lawyers Ravindra Pawar and Sanjay Uddan, who according to police were found with other suspects in the two cars.

Arrested lawyers were remanded to police custody till January 8 even as they claimed that they were called by the suspect for legal help.

The focal point of the hearing was the appearance of advocate Pawar and Uddan, along with other prime accused individuals, who were brought to court under tight security. The atmosphere around the court complex was tense as police implemented stringent security measures to maintain order and prevent any disruptions.

As the accused were led into the courtroom, it became evident that the space available was far from sufficient to accommodate the multitude of lawyers who had gathered to witness the proceedings.

Facing this logistical challenge, the presiding Judicial Magistrate First Class AC Birajdar ordered a significant number of lawyers to leave the courtroom to create space for the proceedings to continue.

The order to thin out the lawyers’ presence in the courtroom led to a scene of commotion and disagreement among legal professionals. Some lawyers, in solidarity with their accused colleagues, resisted leaving, while others reluctantly complied with the judge’s directive.

Later, senior lawyers and senior office bearers of the bar council intervened in court not to dictate any orders against them and they requested lawyers to vacate the courtroom to make space available to produce the accused in the court.

The court, once the space issue was addressed, continued with the hearing, with the prosecution presenting its case against the accused.

Hemant Patil, senior police inspector at Kothrud police stations said, “The accused lawyer helped other accused to flee away from our jurisdiction and they allegedly made available a car for further travel.”

Assistant public prosecutor Neelam Yadav Ithape in her submission before the court requested 14 day custodial remand. However, the court granted police custody till January 10 to the six accused and till January 8 to lawyers Pawar and Uddan.

Yadav - Ithape said, “In the technical analysis, it was found that accused Polekar along with other arrested accused, hatched a conspiracy to kill Mohol. To investigate their role, financials, money trails and other part of the conspiracy in detail we have demanded police custody.’’

Defence lawyers ND Patil, HV Nimbalkar and SM Shah in their submission refuted allegations made against their lawyer clients.

Patil said, “Pawar and Uddan are practising lawyers and they previously fought cases on behalf of Kangude and Polekar. Regarding this case, two advocates met the accused in order to give them professional advice, at that time police arrested them. They don’t have any connection with this case and hence we request you to not grant them police custody.’’

There were heated debates in the courtroom for over two and a half hours over the alleged role of arrested lawyers in the murder case of Mohol.

Finally, the court granted permission to accused Pawar to put his version in front of the court. Pawar told the court that on Friday after the incident, the accused called him seeking legal help.

Later, Pawar and Uddan reached the location provided by the accused. Pawar claimed that he had advised them to surrender to the police.

Meanwhile, Pawar called former police sub-inspector Kadam from Kothrud police station informing him about their surrender plan but Kadam informed him he had been transferred to Mumbai.

Meanwhile, police raided their car and arrested all eight individuals present in the two cars. Pawar said even after repeated requests, police arrested them without having solid proof against them.