Bhima Koregaon case: Arrested accused wanted to mobilise youth through photo exhibitions on mob lynchings

Ahead of the Bhima Koregaon incident in January 2018, one of the accused – Arun Fereira – had suggested holding photo exhibitions for students on the subjects of

Ahead of the Bhima Koregaon incident in January 2018, one of the accused – Arun Fereira – had suggested holding photo exhibitions for students on the subjects of mob lynching and Hindu militant uprising. According to a charge sheet filed earlier this month by the National Investigative Agency (NIA), this was to mobilise the youth.

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The NIA charge sheet, running into 10,000 pages, was filed against eight accused who were arrested by the agency. The accused include Dr Anand Teltumbde, Gautam Navlakha, Hanybabu Musaliyavirtil Tarayil, Fr Stan Swamy and three members of Kabir Kala Manch – Jyoti Raghoba Jagtap, Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor. The agency has also shown one of the members – Milind Teltumbde as wanted in the case.

Previously, Maharashtra Police had arrested nine accused – Sudhir Dhawale, Mahesh Raut, Soma Sen, Surendra Gadling, Rona Jacob Wilson, Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Fereira and Vernon Gonsalves.

In the charge sheet, the NIA had added several letters recovered from the accused discussed strategies to mobilise more support from student organisations from Mumbai, Pune and Delhi through various activities.

The letter further appreciated the efforts made by Fereira for engaging with student unions. “Arun [Fereira ] is engaging with various student unions on a regular basis and has come up with many creative initiatives to propagate our agendas,” the letter allegedly mentioned.

It added that Fereira had suggested holding photo/cartoon exhibitions on the subjects of mob lynching and Hindu militant uprisings. “This can be organised with the help of Umar across many schools and colleges across Mumbai, Pune and Delhi, and gradually in more cities,” read the letter.

In another letter dated September 25, 2017, addressed to ‘Comrade Surendra’ by Prakash, the author mentioned strategies of infiltrating student groups in detail. “We must intensify protests using students. State forces will be soft against students, which will gradually put the state at a disadvantage while acting against us,” the letter stated.