Mumbai: The Versova police have arrested a celebrity photographer who allegedly passed an objectionable comment on the caste of one of his acquaintances. The accused, Rakesh Shreshta, was arrested on Sunday after the complainant Nitin Ambavkar accused the lensman of passing casteist slur.
According to police, on September 12 last year, there a was a minor spat between Shrestha and another resident over a parking space, which was interfered by Ambavkar in a bid to clear the air. The verbal spat took a wrong turn when Shrestha allegedly passed a casteist slur on the complainant, saying he does not wish to speak to people like Ambavkar, who hails from a caste full of cobblers. Shreshtha also said that people like Ambavkar should be dishonoured and thrashed.
Hurt by the slur, Ambavkar approached Versova police, who refused to register a complaint. The complainant then approached the Maharashtra State Commission for SC and ST. The commission ordered the police to lodge a complaint. “After series of investigation, Shreshtha was arrested on Sunday and was been booked under relevant sections of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. He has been sent to jail custody,” said a police officer.
