Elgar Parishad arrests: Pune police cite digital evidence trail leading to ‘logical conclusion’

K Venkatesham, Pune police commissioner, said that investigation will continue in the case despite the apex court order with officials working on further leads

A day after the Supreme Court ordered that five activists arrested in connection with the December 31 Elgar Parishad by the Pune police be kept under house arrest, probe officials said that they will take the case to its ‘logical end’ using ‘electronic’ evidence.

Members of various social groups in Pune staged a ‘protest against fascism’ to condemn arrests of five activists from different states in the country by the Pune police. The protest was held outside the Pune collectorate on Thursday. (RAHUL RAUT/HT PHOTO)

K Venkatesham, Pune police commissioner, said that investigation will continue in the case despite the apex court order with officials working on further leads.

“We will continue to investigate the case and will take it to its logical end. We have got some leads about people’s links with the banned organisation CPI (Maoist),” said Venkatesham on Thursday. The Pune police chief said that investigating officials have strong ‘digital evidence’ which will be submitted to the court.

On Wednesday, the Pune police arrested lawyer and trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj, poet P Varavara Rao, activist Gautam Navlakha, and lawyers Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves. The arrests were part of an investigation into Elgar Parishad held on the premises of Shaniwarwada in Pune. The event followed violence at Bhima Koregaon, some 40 kilometres from Pune, on January 1 during the bicentennial celebration of a British-era war.

According to senior officials, the have crucial evidence in the form of hard disk, emails, pen drive, which the investigators recovered from arrested activist on Wednesday as well as June 6. “We are confident to nail the suspects,” said Venkatesham.

Senior police officials said that they recovered ‘incriminating’ and ‘conclusive’ evidence during the investigation, which they will submit to the court. “What we have submitted before the court on Wednesday while seeking custodial interrogation of suspects was part of evidence. We have around 250 documents and large amount of electronic evidence, which we will submit in the court,” said another senior official, who is monitoring the probe.