Pune police arrest former BJP MP Sanjay Kakade in case of gangster's procession

PUNE: Former BJP Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Kakade was on Wednesday arrested and later got bail in connection with a car procession taken out upon gangster Gajanan Marne's release from prison, police said.

The remand plea of the police alleged that Kakade was involved in 'planning' the procession. After Marne was released on bail from Taloja Jail in Navi Mumbai in February, his supporters took out a huge car procession as he returned to Pune, causing outrage.

Multiple cases were registered against Marne and his associates following the incident and he is now back in jail. A senior official said that a case was registered against Kakade at Bund Garden Police station in the city for allegedly being involved in the "planning" of the procession and for "instigation".

Kakade was produced before a court here later in the day. The prosecution sought his custody saying the police had information that there was some connection between Marne and Kakade which they wanted to probe.

However, the court released him on a bail on a surety bond of Rs 15,000. The case is being investigated by the cyber cell which is also probing social media posts which supported or glorified Marne. "Videos revealed that the crowd that gathered outside the jail was pre-organised and all the videos which were posted on various social media sites were posted in order to create fear among people," said the complaint.