Mumbai: Two young event managers for rock shows — Vijay Nair (22) and Girish Talwar (27) — who used their skills to good use during the anti-quota protest outside Raj Bhavan last week, are now facing the music. Fearing arrest on charges of inciting the students to violate prohibitory orders, they have now filed for anticipatory bail. Their bail application says the duo work with student bodies in medical and engineering colleges across the country to organise rock shows and therefore they enjoy a good rapport with the student community. The plea says that when the opposition to the 93rd constitutional amendment meant to introduce the new quota system began, Talwar and Nair met students of IIT and AIIMS at Delhi who asked them to put them in touch with their counterparts in Mumbai. Once in Mumbai, Nair met students of IIT, JJ Hospital, KEM, Nair medical and other colleges and realised that he shared their views on the quota issue. Subsequently, Nair and Talwar took part in a peaceful protest at Azad Maidan on May 2 along with several students. They also studied the Mandal report which convinced them that the reservation policy was wrong. On May 13, the duo came to Azad Maidan to take part in the hunger strike and then like the other protesters, shifted to Raj Bhavan. Their plea says that in the ensuing lathicharge, Talwar suffered injuries on his arm, back and lower back and was later bundled off with the students to Malabar Hill police station. There he acted as a mediator between students and cops and helped them complete the formalities. The plea says that police inspector Madhukar Sankhe asked Talwar to take eight students for a medical checkup but to ensure that they did not get admitted. However, when some students refused to get discharged, Sankhe blamed Talwar and detained him until 9 am the next day. The police also recorded four statements by Talwar, including one on video. The next big surprise came when Nair and Talwar heard police commissioner A N Roy telling TV reporters on May 15 that the entire Raj Bhavan episode was not a random event. It was actually planned by ‘‘an event manager and a member of a rock band’’. DCP Pratap Dighavkar said that Talwar and Nair were ‘‘self proclaimed leaders of the group’’ which led to their arrest. ‘‘We released them on bail that day after taking down their statements. The matter is now with the crime branch and it will proceed further on it,’’ Dighavkar added. Crime lawyer Nilesh Pawaskar said he could not understand how the police could arrest the duo. ‘‘Protesting and organising a rally is a fundamental right of every citizen,” he said.
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