Bhima Koregaon Case: NIA Files Charge Sheet Against Eight People
NIA on Thursday arrested 83-year-old activist Stan Swamy from his house in Ranchi and sent him to judicial custody.
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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday, 9 October, filed a charge sheet against eight people – Gautam Navlakha, DU associate professor Hany Babu, tribal activist Father Stan Swamy, Goa Institute of Management professor Anand Teltumbde, Jyoti Jagtap, Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor and Milind Teltumbde – for their alleged involvement in Bhima-Koregaon violence on 1 January 2018, reported PTI.
Sonia Narang, NIA spokesperson and Deputy Inspector General of Police stated that the charge sheet was submitted before a designated court.
Swamy, a Jesuit priest, was questioned in July and August and summoned to NIA’s Mumbai office earlier this week, reported The Indian Express.
The first charge sheet was filed in November 2018 against Sudhir Dhawale, an activist, Dr Shoma Sen, a professor at Nagpur University, activists Rona Wilson and Mahesh Rau, and Surendra Gadling, a criminal lawyer, reported The Hindu.
What’s the Case About?
On 1 January 2018 celebrations for the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle was closely followed by severe caste clashes, resulting in a shutdown in Maharashtra on 3 January 2018.
The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches delivered at the Elgar Parishad conclave, held at Shaniwarwada in Pune on 31 December 2017, which the police claimed, triggered violence near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial in the district the following day.
Pune Police had claimed the conclave was backed by Maoists.
(With inputs from PTI and The Hindu)
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