E-Paper
Bhima Koregaon: Pune rural police keep close tab on social media conversation
Maharashtra police’s social media monitoring cell based in Pune, asked the district police headquarters in Marathwada and Vidharbha to take action against as many as 20 persons who allegedly uploaded objectionable and incendiary posts.
With the 201st anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon round the corner (January 1, 2019), the police have started taking action against those posting “objectionable posts” on social media.
Maharashtra police’s social media monitoring cell based in Pune, asked the district police headquarters in Marathwada and Vidharbha to take action against as many as 20 persons who allegedly uploaded objectionable and incendiary posts. “Most of those booked are from Marathwada and Vidharbha where action has been taken under Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr PC) Sections 110 and 107. Besides, action has been taken against five such persons from Pune in the past few days,” said Pune Superintendent of Police Sandip Patil .
Patil said that a communication has been sent to all the district superintendents and police commissionerates in Maharashtra to keep a close eye on possible trouble makers. In 2018, during the Bhima Koregaon anniversary on January 1, riots broke out between two communities which killed one person and caused damage to property worth ₹40 crore.
Patil wrote a letter to all the superintendents of police in Maharashtra about collection of intelligence on different political and social outfits engaged in preparations of the anniversary of Bhima Koregaon. The letter had sought information on five counts- how many meetings related to the celebrations were held under their jurisdiction; names of the leaders; address and their phone numbers; probable number of people who will attending the anniversary celebrations in Bhima Koregaon; what vehicles will be used for transport and whether the visitors to Bhima Koregaon memorial have a criminal background and what preventive action has been taken.
Patil confirmed to the Hindustan Times that the letter has been sent as a part of the policing update. “We call it shadowing the groups so that more information is gathered beforehand for maintaining law and order. Besides, the details help us take preventive action and thwart any attempts to disrupt peace,” he said.
Ahead of the anniversary, left-leaning Dalit outfit Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) has also come under the police scanner with the police keeping a close watch on its members, according to officials. Earlier, the police had filed a first information report (FIR) against KKM members in the Elgar Parishad case.
Background
The Pune police have arrested civil and human rights activists for their alleged Maoist links and for instigating the riots at Bhima Koregaon on January 1, 2018. The activists are Sudhir Dhawale, Surendra Gadling, Rona Wilson, Mahesh Raut, Soma Sen, P Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha.
Various Dalit and left-leaning outfits have decided to hold events before and after January 1. Among the most prominent is the Elgar Parishad gathering scheduled on January 12, 2019, organised by former Supreme Court judge PB Sawant and former Bombay High Court judge BG Kolse Patil.
Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad will be addressing a huge rally at SSPMS grounds on December 31, 2018, and will be interacting with the Savitribai Phule Pune University students. He will also offer his respects at the Bhima Koregaon obelisk on January 1, 2019.
