Mumbai: The MRA Marg police on Tuesday booked eight people for allegedly defaming Maratha Kranti Morcha coordinator Ramesh Kere and pushing him to attempt suicide in the full glare of social media. Kere had consumed rat poison on Facebook Live on October 16 but was saved in the nick of time.
The accused had allegedly circulated doctored audio clips which suggested that Kere had embezzled funds in the name of the Maratha Kranti Morcha, an organisation committed to the Maratha reservation issue. Beleaguered by the harassment, Kere consumed poison at a South Mumbai hotel. Based on his statement, the police have registered a case against Vivekanand Babar, Aniruddha Shelar, Yogesh Kedar, Sandeep Pol, Balasaheb Sarate, Vishal Pawar, Nitin Kadam and Pradeep Kanse under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.
A resident of Aurangabad, 45-year-old Kere has been actively involved in several Maratha agitations and movements over the past two decades. The alleged defamation he faced has its roots in a three-year-old telephone conversation that his close associate, Abasaheb Patil, had with another associate, Vivekanand Babar. Patil and Babar were discussing financial issues related to the Maratha reservation agitation in 2019.
“In this conversation, Patil asked Babar if I or anyone else had taken anything from anyone for the Maratha reservation agitation,” Kere stated in his FIR. “He said that if this had happened, they would go and meet the concerned person or minister in order to know the truth. Babar recorded this conversation, inserted the names of certain MLAs and ministers, and recently and shared it on a WhatsApp group called ‘Nek Maratha’. The intention was to defame me.”
Kere was informed by his other associates that the doctored audio clips were doing the rounds of various social media platforms. “Babar uploaded the three-year-old audio clip on a WhatsApp group on the night of October 11. Later, Anirudha Shelar and Yogesh Kedar reposted the clips on other social media, saying I was selling out the Maratha community and my face should be blackened. The other accused also put up posts calling me an agent who had made crores of rupees by defrauding the Maratha community,” Kere said in his statement. The allegations began to spiral, and Kere started getting phone calls from people who abused and threatened him and his family.
Under tremendous mental pressure, Kere decided to end his life, and on October 15, left Aurangabad for Mumbai. Reaching Mumbai on October 16, he checked into a hotel, Sea Lord on P D’Mello Road, bought rat poison from a medical store, and consumed it during a Facebook Live session in his room. His driver and a friend, after being informed about his suicide attempt by Facebook viewers, rushed him to JJ Hospital, said a police officer.
While being taken to the hospital, Kere told his driver and friend that as his name had been totally besmirched in his community, he no longer wanted to live. He then lost consciousness, the officer added.
“Kere is stable now and still in hospital. We recorded his statement there and filed a complaint against the persons he named. The investigation is on and no arrests have been made yet,” said Rajesh Pawar, senior inspector of MRA Marg police station.