KOLHAPUR: Prashant Koratkar, a Nagpur-based journalist facing charges for allegedly making a threat call to historian Indrajeet Sawant and inciting enmity between communities, was on Sunday remanded in judicial custody for two weeks at Kolhapur’s Kalamba jail.
Soon after the Kolhapur sessions court passed the order, Koratkar’s lawyers filed a plea seeking his release on bail. “We have sought the bail primarily on the grounds that the police investigation against him appears to be prima facie complete and his physical custody is not required,” a lawyer for Koratkar told TOI.
The court has posted the hearing of Koratkar’s bail plea on Tuesday. He will be lodged in a separate cell in the jail for security reasons.
Earlier, Koratkar was produced before the court through video conferencing from Rajarampuri police station over security concerns. On previous occasions, when he was physically produced before the court on March 25 and 28, people angry with Koratkar’s remarks had gathered on the court premises, and a man in a lawyer’s attire tried to attack him.
Meanwhile, Kolhapur police recovered two high-end cars used by Koratkar while he was on the run for a month before his arrest at a railway station in Telangana. Police have summoned five people who allegedly helped Koratkar. One of them, the owner of a hotel in Chandrapur where Koratkar stayed before leaving for Telangana, has reached Kolhapur to record his statement.
During Koratkar’s custodial remand for five days, police collected his voice samples to match with the voice of the person who called Sawant on Feb 25. Experts are analysing the samples.
