Elgaar Parishad aggravated Bhima Koregaon violence, states chargesheet

The day after the Elgaar Parishad, ie on January 1, there was large scale violence at Bhima Koregaon, in which one Maratha youth was killed while properties worth crores were damaged. File pic

The Pune city police on Thursday submitted an over 5,000-page charge sheet against 10 activists and absconding Maoist leaders in the Elgaar Parishad case, and said speeches made at the conclave held last year "aggravated" the violence near the Bhima Koregaon war memorial in Pune district the next day.

ACP Shivaji Pawar submitted the 5,160-page chargesheet in the court of special judge KD Wadne. Among those chargesheeted were Nagpur-based lawyer Surendra Gadling, activists Sudhir Pralhad Dhawale of Mumbai, Rona Jacob Wilson of New Delhi, Prof Dr Shoma Sen of Nagpur and Mahesh Sitaram Raut of Nagpur. All of them are currently lodged in Yerwada Central Jail.

The Elgaar Parishad was organised in Pune on December 31 2017, a day ahead of the bicentennial celebration of the 1818 battle of Bhima Koregaon. The charge sheet said the conclave was held on the directions of Maoists, who also funded it. As per the charge sheet, these five were the chief conspirators of the Parishad.

They allegedly wanted to target the youth and raise funds. Speeches made at the Parishad "aggravated" the violence near Bhima Koregaon war memorial in Pune district the next day, it alleged. The other five accused named in the charge sheet are Maoist leaders Dipak alias Milind Teltumbade, Kishan Da alias Prashant Bose, Prakash alias Rituparn Goswami, comrade Deepu and comrade Manglu. All five have been shown as absconding.

5.1k
No. of pages in the chargesheet

With agency inputs

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