Nagpur: Avinash Shegaonkar, Secretary of Sai Baba Sewa Mandal that runs activities of the temple situated on Nagpur-Wardha Road in city, was arrested under Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. He was earlier booked on the charges of perpetrating atrocities in a case.
According to details, a person named Shivraj Bawankar is flower and garland vendor at Sai Baba Temple premises. However, the Mandir Trust of which Shegaonkar is Secretary, claims that Bawankar encroached the space for his shop. The Trust on several occasions had asked Bawankar to vacate the space. When Bawankar refused to vacate the space, a complaint was registered against him with Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). Acting on the complaint, NMC sent a notice to Bawankar through Shegaonkar. In the meantime, a heated exchange of words erupted between Bawankar and Shegaonkar over the issue on December 7, 2017. Subsequently, Bawankar had registered a case against Shegaonkar with Dhantoli police accusing him of perpetrating atrocity.
Dhantoli police, after registering a case under sections of Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, conducted an enquiry and investigated Bawankar’s complaint. Subsequently, Shegaonkar was arrested on Saturday and produced in a court which granted him bail.
On the other hand, Shegaonkar termed the atrocity complaint as false. He claimed that Bawankar did not belong to scheduled caste as his father is of mali (gardener) community while mother is scheduled caste.
