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Ex-Pune police chief submits affidavit to Bhima Koregaon commission; hearings from Jan 31
Former Pune city chief Rashmi Shukla and former additional superintendent of Pune rural police Tejashwi Satpute, among five people are scheduled to record their statements before the commission, officials said
PUNE Senior IPS officer and former police commissioner Rashmi Shukla has claimed in her affidavit submitted before the Bhima Koregaon inquiry commission that the city police handled the situation “tactfully” during the 2018 Bhima Koregaon clashes, preventing a major untoward incident in the city.
Shukla, who was Pune police commissioner when the riots broke out, submitted a detailed affidavit on January 25 before the two-member commission headed by Justice (retd) J N Patel, which is conducting a probe into the violence. Hindustan Times has seen the copy of the affidavit.
In her affidavit, she said the city police had anticipated that a large number of visitors would arrive from all over the state on that day, and had taken adequate precautions and preventive measures.
“....due to said effective deployment of man power/police force, there was negligible incidence of stone pelting within my jurisdiction or violence in the limits of Pune city,” the affidavit stated.
“There was neither any loss of human life nor any major outbreak of violence in the city. Also there was no untoward incident in Pune (district) after the evening of January 3, 2018,” Shukla added.
Earlier, the commission’s lawyer Ashish Satpute had filed an application seeking that Shukla -- now deputed to the CRPF -- be directed to file an affidavit.
Meanwhile, hearings of the Bhima Koregaon inquiry commission will resume at its Pune office on Monday, with Shukla and former additional superintendent of Pune rural police Tejashwi Satpute, among five people scheduled to record their statements before the commission, officials said.
The scheduled hearings were suspended in the second week of January owing to a rise in Covid-19 infections.
Others on the current list of witnesses to be examined include Sambhaji Shivale, Balasaheb Jamadar, and ACP Ramesh Galande.
The commission that was formed on February 19, 2018, by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by the then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, has been granted nine extensions since. The current extension was granted in December 2021 and will last till June 30, 2022.
During the riots that ensued in January 2018 during the 200th anniversary of the battle of Bhima Koregaon, one person died while scores were injured including some police officials. The commission was formed and tasked with finding out who was responsible for the violence while also suggesting policy changes to avoid such incidents in the future.
