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Pawar lamenting arrest of Elgar accused prosecuted by his own govt: Fadnavis
NCP-led home dept had acted against those involved in Maoists activities, says Fadnavis
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member and former chief minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, on Monday, refuted allegations made by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar, of calling Pune police’s investigation in the Elgar Parishad case “vengeful” and accused the NCP supremo of “demoralising” the police force while questioning probe into the case.
“This investigation was not based on any NGO report. Whatever has been done is based on credible proof. Every time the case has gone to the court, the courts have also acknowledged the investigation,” said Fadnavis during a press conference in Kolhapur, on Monday.
“It was the home department led by the NCP which had acted against Sudhir Dhawale, Arun Ferriera and Vernon Gonsalves for their involvement in Maoists activities. In February 2014, the then minister in UPA government RPN Singh had produced a list of banned organisations in the Lok Sabha. The list included Kabir Kala Manch and Indian Association of People’s Lawyers led by Sudha Bharadwaj,” said Fadnavis, accusing Pawar of selectively using details for politics of convenience.
It was in 2011 when Dhawale was arrested for allegedly being a Naxal sympathiser and was charged with sedition when late RR Patil was home minister during the NCP-Congress government. Ferrirra was also prosecuted for Maoists links and even spent five years in jail.
Pawar, during a press conference in Pune on Sunday, had demanded formation of a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate the police work which landed nine lawyers and activists in jail over an alleged connection with the Communist Party of India (Maoist) which is banned under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The arrested accused include Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Shoma Sen, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj and P Varavara Rao.
Pawar also said that the Pune police commissioner, K Venkatesham, should be suspended along with other police officials who are investigating the case.
On Monday, ahead of the second anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon violence, Sandip Patil, superintendent, Pune rural police, issued notices to 163 people, including accused Milind Ekbote Samasta Hindu Aghadi and Sambhaji Bhide of Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan to prohibit them from entering the district. The notice has also been issued to the members of the cultural group, Kabir Kala Manch.
January 1, 2020, will mark 202 years since the battle of Bhima Koregaon against Peshwas fought by the East India Company army which had members of the Mahar community.
“So far, we have issued notices to 163 people, including Bhide and Ekbote, and barred them from entering the district. A similar notice was also issued last year,” Patil said.
