Instead of arresting the politician behind the Dahi Handi, the Meghwadi police arrested 19-year-old
Mumbai : The only person arrested by the Mumbai police for violating the supreme court’s order on govindas under 12 years of age happens to be a 19-year-old boy.
Chetan Khetle, the boy, has been shown as the chairman of the Om Sai Ram Ganesh Mandal, which had used a 10-year-old child at the apex of a seven-tier human pyramid in Meghwadi in Jogeshwari (E).
No case has been made out against the organiser of the dahi handi, Rakesh Hegde, a local Congress worker.
Hegde organised the dahi handi with a prize money of Rs 2.55 lakh under the banner of Uttar Paschim Zilla Congress. Hegde said he was present at the spot but Khetle, who led the govinda team, misled him into believing that no one under 12 years was being used.
“The pyramid comes up in 30 seconds and from where I was standing I could not see that a ten-year-old kid was climbing up to the top,’’ he said. The kid fell when the pyramid collapsed but he was caught by those standing below. Hegde said that the pot was strung at a height of 20 feet but for that a four to five-tier pyramid suffices.
Asked about whether it was justifiable to arrest a 19-year-old instead of the politician behind the dahi handi, zonal deputy commissioner of police Prashant Holkar said, “We will take legal action, whatever required.’’ The additional commissioner of West region, Milind Bharmabe, did not reply to a text message on the propriety of the police action.
Khetle, the teenager arrested, was booked under Sec 188 of the IPC which deals with disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant.
It is a bailable offence and the boy was let off after formalities. He lives with his widowed mother in a chawl at Kranti Chowk, Gandhinagar. Khetle dropped out of college after failing in HSC and was perhaps hoping to make some money through dahi handi.
Hegde said he had announced a cash prize of Rs 2,000 for a six-tier pyramid and Rs 5,000 for a seven-tier pyramid. “Maybe, that’s what prompted Khetle to introduce a 10-year-old kid at the last moment,’’ he said.
