The Sena caught in a web of storm after the recording of the secret conversation of phone calls between Gorhe and Narvekar were leaked out to the media, said that the phone tapping was “illegal” and was done by the state government to silence its voice. Both the state government and the opposition appear to now be heading for a major showdown over the issue.

The Pune police authorities confirmed the authenticity of the tapped phone calls and said that the sporadic violence in Pune on the day of the shutdown was the outcome of the orders issued by Narvekar to Gorhe who was leading the protest. “Te ensure law and order, the police are permitted to intercept conversations of leaders and people suspected of creating trouble. Apart from this the police have no other motive,” said a senior police official.

Upset and angry with the method deployed by the police of tapping phone of Sena and BJP leaders, Gopinath Munde, senior BJP leader and deputy leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) said that a Sena-BJP delegation will call on the Maharashtra governor to lodge a formal complaint.

Speaking to the media, Munde said, “The phone tapping of Sena leaders is not only illegal but also a blatant misuse of power and we will register our protest about this to the governor. If the Chavan-led Congress-NCP government was so concerned about the law and order, why it is not revealing the phone conversations between Congress and NCP leaders that led to the removal of the statue of Dadaji Konddev, the tutor of Maratha warrior Shivaji from the historic Lal Mahal in Pune and we also demand to know who ordered the removal of the statue that led to a violent situation in the Pune Municipal Corporation and in the city,” Munde asked.

“After the Emergency in 1975, the federal government had decided to tap phones of dreaded criminals, gangsters, anti-nationals, and economic offenders but not that of elected representatives. The state home minister RR Patil had stated in the Maharashtra Assembly that phones of elected representatives were not tapped. But the recent phone tapping of Sena leaders in Pune and Mumbai proved that Patil had “misinformed the House”, and therefore he owes and explanation for misleading the House,” Munde stated.

Meanwhile Gorhe and Narvekar who surrendered before the court today after the Pune police filed cases against them on number of charges, based on the their intercepted phone conversations, were released on bail against a surety of Indian Rupees 15,000 each by Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) R L Wankhede.

In another related development, 14 of the 23 BJP, Sena and MNS municipal councilors who had created ruckus and gone on rampage in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) assembly hall on Dec. 27, as a reaction to the removal of Dadaji Konddev statue were also released on bail against surety of 15,000 rupees.

The Pune city Congress held a demonstration in front of the Collector’s office and submitted a memorandum to the Collector demanding Gorhe and Narvekar’s arrest. City Congress chief demanded that the state government take cognizance of the offense as it is a serious crime to invoke violence, call a shutdown in the state and cause damage to property. The NCP also demanded an inquiry into the Pune violence and stern action against the Sena leaders for instigating arson and violence.