The communal ways of the Hindu Rashtra Sena (HRS)

Desai is the head of the Hindu Rashtra Sena, a fringe extremist Hindu group active mainly in western districts of Maharashtra

A man named Dhananjay Desai was arrested on Tuesday for the murder of a 28-year- old Pune resident Mohsin Shaikh. Desai is the head of the Hindu Rashtra Sena (HRS), a fringe extremist Hindu group active mainly in western districts of Maharashtra, particularly Pune, Kolhapur and Satara.

On 2 June, a mob of 30 to 40 people, alleged to be members of the HRS, were travelling on motorbikes in Pune protesting against the appearance of morphed photos of the Maratha king Chattrapati Shivaji and late Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray on social networking sites. They chanced upon Shaikh who was returning home after his namaaz and beat him to death. They also assaulted a few other Muslim men.

Hindu Rashtra Sena usually holds rallies and protests for what they call defending their religion . Media reports claim that Desai, who hails from Mumbai, formed the HRS when he was 14 years old. He has been booked at least 23 times earlier for hate speeches and instigating violence. HRS earlier held protests against the capture of Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit in the Malegaon blasts case. In 2007, it attacked the office of Star News, claiming their coverage of a story where a Hindu girl had eloped with a Muslim boy was “anti-national”. It also held demonstrations in Pune against the state government’s plan to allot land to the Aligarh Muslim University.

So far 17 suspects have been arrested for Shaikh’s murder, including Desai. Incidentally, Desai had also been arrested on the afternoon of the murder of Shaikh, on an entirely different case of allegedly distributing pamphlets containing inflammatory content at a rally. The police believe he conspired the murde r and are now seeking to ban the group.

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