Pune: Cops register case against MLA, 50 others for pre-wedding event crowd

PUNE: The Pimpri Chinchwad police on Monday registered a case against BJP’s Bhosari MLA, Mahensh Landge, his brother and 50 others on the charge of violating Covid norms during the pre-wedding ceremony of the legislator’s daughter at Bhosari village on Sunday evening.
Video clips of people gathering at the event had gone viral on various social networking sites, following which the Pimpri Chinchwad police swung into action on Monday afternoon.
The Bhosari police registered a case under sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (whoever unlawfully or negligently does any act which is, and which he knows or has reason to believe to be, likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. The police also invoked relevant provisions of the Disaster Management Act and Maharashtra Covid Rules against Landge and others.
When contacted, Landge said, “All the 50 people who attended the pre-wedding ceremony, known as Mandav Tahala, are my family members. No one outside the family was present at the function. All the family members have received Covid vaccine. We had done their RT-PCR tests a couple of days ago and the reports were negative.”
The MLA said, “Sunday’s event was a small family ceremony. Very few people attended the wedding on Monday afternoon in Alandi. The police registered the case after the video clips went viral. I will pay the fine to the police or appropriate authorities for the violation.”
The police said the video clips showed a large number of men dancing to the tunes of music in front of Landge’s house located at Bhorsai Gaonthan. Senior inspector of the Bhosari police Shankar Awatade said, “Though it was a private ceremony, the Covid rules do not allow gathering of five or more people at a venue. The persons who attended the function are seen dancing close to each other.”