At least four tourists, including a woman, were allegedly assaulted by members of a right-wing outfit at the historic Sinhagad Fort near Pune Sunday afternoon for wearing shorts and sleeveless clothing, the Pune Rural police said Tuesday. The police booked eight members of the group, identified as the Samast Hindu Bandhav Army, for assault and rioting.
According to police, the series of attacks occurred between 2 pm and 5 pm on Sunday across four different groups of visitors.
“We have launched a search to apprehend the eight accused, including three women. Further investigation is underway,” said Inspector Rajesh Ramaghare, in-charge of Haveli police station.
The complainant, a 39-year-old senior manager at a private firm in Pune, had visited the fort with his family and friends. While returning after visiting the memorial of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s military commander, Tanaji Malusare, a group of men and women allegedly confronted them, questioning their attire.
“They asked, ‘Why are you wearing shorts?'” he stated in the complaint. Three men from the group allegedly slapped him, while a woman dragged his wife. “They kept shouting, ‘Don’t you understand Hindu culture?'” the complainant stated.
After descending the fort, the complainant’s group informed a police patrol team, which directed them to the Haveli police station. At the station, the complainant found out that three other tourists from separate groups, including another woman, had allegedly been slapped and struck with plastic rods by the same attackers.
The police registered the FIR under charges of voluntarily causing hurt, voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means, unlawful assembly, rioting, and criminal intimidation.
The police identified the eight booked accused as Sanket Sanjay Patil, Ashish Dilip Apar, Revan Narayan Kokte, Sayali Sujit Chavan, Ketaki Suraj Jadhav, Amar Ramchandra Shirke, Kunal Kisan Nalawade, and Arya Praveen Kawade.
Earlier this year, some people put up a poster at the entrance of Sinhagad Fort that said, “The fort belongs to Hindus and Muslims are not allowed”.
