The Pune police on Thursday finally filed the first chargesheet before a special court in Pune against 10 persons in the Bhima-Koregaon riots case, accusing them, among other things, of conspiring to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi and overthrow the democratically elected Government in the country.
In their chargesheet filed before a Special Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) Court in Pune ten weeks after the same court extended a 90-day deadline for filing the chargesheet by another 90 days, the Pune police named Sudhir P. Dhawale, Rona J. Wilson, Surendra P. Gadling, Shoma Sen, Mahesh S. Raut as among the 10 persons. They were arrested from various parts of the country on June 6.
The five other accused named in their 20-page chargesheet as the absconding accused by the Pune police are M alias Milind Teltumbde from Yavatmal, Prakash alias Navin Alias Ritupan Goswami from Assam, Manglu, Dipu and Kishan Prashant Bose, all owing allegiance to the banned CPI (Maoists). The chargesheet stated that these five accused had gone “underground” in various parts of the country.
The ten accused named in the first chargesheet in the Bhima-Koregaon case have charged under various relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), 117 ( abetting commission of offence), 120-b ( conspiracy) read with 34 (common intention), 121, 121 (A) (Waging or attempting to wage a war, or abetting waging of war, against the Government of India) 124A (sedition), 153 –A (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot..) and 505 1b (statements conducing public mischief) of Indian Penal Code (IPC)
The chargesheet stated that the five arrested activists —Dhawale, Wilson, Gadling, Shoma Sen and S. Raut –were linked to the CPI (Maoists) which carried out subversive activities through under-ground means. Human and civil rights organisations like Indian Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL), Anuradha Ghandi Memorial Committee (AGMC), Kabir Kala Manch, all of which set up legally, were supporting the outlawed CPI (Maoists)
According to the chargesheet, accused number two Rona J. Wilson had colluded with Shoma Sena and Prashanto Bose, secretary of the outlawed CPI (Maoist)’s Eastern Regional Bureau, along with other underground activists hatched a conspiracy to kill the Prime Minister of India.
“All the five (arrested) arrested accused were part of the conspiracy to wage a war against the Nation with illegal bombs and arms to topple the Government with violent means,” the charge-sheet said.
The Pune police are likely to file second chargesheet in the case against five more activists, including Varavara Rao and Sudha Bharadwaj, who were arrested on August 28 in the same case, in the coming weeks.
It may be recalled that five Maoist-linked activists Human Rights activists Rona Wilson Jacob, Surendra Gadling, Sudhir Dhawale, Prof Shoma Sen and Mahesh Raut were arrested by the Pune police on June 6, in connection with the Elgaar Parishad and subsequent Bhima-Koregaon caste riots.
Subsequently on June 8, the investigators had claimed that they had recovered from the laptop of Wilson an allegedly incriminating letter, which uncovered an alleged plot by the Maoists to carry out “Rajiv Gandhi-type” assassination of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On August 28, the Pune police arrested five more activists Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Pereira, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha for their association with the Elgaar Parishad held in Pune ahead of the January 1, 2018 Bhima-Koregaon riots and their alleged links with the Maoists. However, the Supreme Court ordered that the five arrested activists be placed under house arrest till September 6.
Defending the fresh arrests of five activists with alleged Maoist links on August 28, Pune’s Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Shirish Sardeshpande had said at a news conference held on August 29 that the seized documents had revealed that the outlawed CPI (Maoist) had hatched a conspiracy to overthrow the Government established by the law..
“Some of the evidence collected reveals that there appears to be nexus with the other unlawful organisations which spread violence. They have shown intolerance to the present political system and decided to target organisations, functionaries and they even were thinking of targeting the highest political functionary,” Sardeshpande had said, alluding to a conspiracy uncovered by the Pune police to assassinate Prime Minister Modi.
Subsequently on August 31, Maharashtra’s Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Param Bir Singh had at a news conference claimed that the Pune police had strong evidence to prove that the five recently arrested activists, including Varavara Rao and Sudha Bharadwaj, had links with the outlawed CPI (Maoists).
Singh had said that there was a big conspiracy to “overthrow the lawfully established” Indian government using arms procured from countries like China and Russia and the five arrested accused were helping the outlawed CPI (Maoists) to take “their goal forward”.
On September 2, a Special Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) court in Pune had granted an extension of 90 days to the police to file a charge-sheet against five persons with alleged Maoist links who were arrested in June this year in connection with the Elgaar Parishad held in Pune and the subsequent January 1, 2018 Bhima-Koregaoncaste riots.
However, on October 24, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday quashed a special court’s order granting an extension of 90 days to the police to file a charge-sheet against five activists with alleged Maoist links. On October 29, the Supreme Court Monday stayed the Bombay High Court’s order refusing extension of time to the state police for filing charge sheet in the Koregaon-Bhima violence case.
