Protest outside Sharad Pawar’s residence: Police custody of arrested lawyer extended till April 13

Advocate Gunratna Sadavarte was arrested in connection with the MSRTC staffers' protest outside Sharad Pawar's residence on April 8. His police custody has been extended till April 13.

Girgaon court has extended the custody of advocate Gunratna Sadavarte till April 13 in connection with a protest by Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) employees outside the residence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar on April 8.

Gamdevi police asked for further custody of Sadavarte on the grounds that some incriminating evidence has been recovered, pointing towards conspiracy before the protest.

Police had asked for 11 days of custody for Sadavarte and four others who have been arrested in the case.

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Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat said, "Other than Sadavarte, 110 more people were arrested who are in judicial custody. Of these, custody of four accused, identified as Mohd Tajuddin Shaikh, Krushnath Kore, Savita Pawar and Abhishek Patil, has been sought. Patil is the person who showed Pawar's residence to protestors. There is one wanted accused in the case, Chandrakant Suryavanshi of MJT Marathi YouTube channel. He was a part of the conspiracy."

According to Gharat, Sadavarte had given information to the media about the plan of protest. A text message was received by Sadavarte that read “patrakaar pathva”.

The police are looking for details of how the protest was funded. Sadavarte said that he did not take fees from MSRTC workers. But Rs 550 was collected from each employee, amounting to Rs 1.80 crore.