Inflammatory speech case: Pune police take custody of Kalicharan Maharaj
Pune, Jan 5: The Pune Police on Wednesday said they have taken the custody of Hindu seer Kalicharan Maharaj from their Raipur counterparts in connection with a case about alleged inflammatory speeches registered against him and five others here in Maharashtra.
Kalicharan alias Abhijit Sarag, who was brought to Pune after a court in Raipur granted his transit remand, was produced before the court of Judicial Magistrate (First Class) M A Shaikh who remanded the accused to the custody of Pune Police for one day.
"We have taken the custody of Kalicharan from Chhattisgarh Police and he is being brought to Pune," an official from Khadak police station had said.
The Pune police had registered the case against Kalicharan Maharaj, right-wing leader Milind Ekbote, Captain Digendra Kumar (retired) and others for allegedly making inflammatory speeches during an event here and hurting religious sentiments.
The event, 'Shiv Pratap Din', was organised by Ekbote-led outfit Hindu Aghadi outfit on December 19, 2021, to celebrate the killing of Mughal commander Afzal Khan by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
Later, the case was registered against the seer and others at Khadak police station under IPC Sections 295 (A) (deliberate and malicious intention of outraging religious feelings of any class), 298 (deliberate intention of wounding religious feeling of any person) and 505 (2) (false statement, rumour made in place of worship, etc, with intent to create enmity, hatred or ill-will).
As per the FIR, all the accused allegedly made inflammatory speeches with an intention to hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims and Christians and to create a communal rift between people.
The prosecution sought Kalicharan's police custody for seven days citing that the offence registered against him is of serious nature which needs a thorough investigation.
The court was told that the police wanted to probe who had invited Kalicharan to attend the event in Pune and where he had stayed while on the run.
The prosecution also wanted to take voice samples of the accused.
Defence lawyer Amol Dange said the FIR registered against Kalicharan was politically motivated as the case was filed after 10 days.
He argued against police custody, saying the offence is punishable with imprisonment of fewer than seven years.
After hearing the arguments, Judicial Magistrate (First Class) M A Shaikh remanded Kalicharan to police custody for one day.
Kalicharan is also facing cases in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra for his alleged derogatory remarks against Mahatma Gandhi during an event in Raipur.
He was last week arrested by the Chhattisgarh Police from Madhya Pradesh in connection with that case.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
