Desai, arrested in the wake of the murder of Mohasin Shaikh, an IT professional, in Hadapasar area last week, was produced in the magistrate's court at Loni Kalbhor near here.
He did not apply for bail, police superintendent M Lohiya said.
Desai had recently made a speech at Loni Kalbhor and circulated some provocative pamphlets following which the Pune rural police registered a case against him.
Shaikh was murdered after some objectionable pictures of King Shivaji and the late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray appeared on Facebook, leading to communal tension.
The situation in Pune city and suburbs was reported to be peaceful today amid a heavy police bandobast. Stray incidents of stone-pelting at buses had taken place yesterday, following the surfacing of yet another objectionable Facebook post.
