Bhima Koregain: Several left-wing intellectuals critical of the government have been arrested.
New Delhi:
Eight people, including prominent activists Anand Teltumbde, Gautam Navlakha and Delhi University Associate Professor Hany Babu, were named by the National Investigative Agency (NIA) on Friday in a charge sheet on the 2018 violence in Koregaon. Bhima, Maharashtra.
Activists Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor, Jyoti Jagtap, Stan Swamy and Maoist leader Milind Teltumbde were also named on the counterterrorism agency’s charge sheet, according to the ANI news agency.
The case relates to a December 31, 2017, event in Pune that was followed by violence and arson in Maharashtra that left one person dead. The arrest of several left-wing intellectuals who harshly criticized the government in the case has sparked accusations of stifling dissent.
Investigators have alleged that activists at the Elgar Parishad meeting had made inflammatory speeches and provocative statements, which they said sparked violence the following day.
The investigation also claimed to have uncovered a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
During the investigation, the NIA said, it was revealed that senior leaders of the CPI (Maoist), an organization banned under the Illicit Activities (Prevention) Act, were in contact with the organizers of the Elgar Parishad event, as well as the defendants. Arrested in the case for spreading Maoist and Naxal ideology and promoting illegal activities.
The Pune Police submitted a charge sheet and a supplemental charge sheet in the case on November 15, 2018 and February 21, 2019, respectively. The NIA resumed the investigation of the case on January 24 of this year.
Earlier on Friday, Father Stan Swamy, an 83-year-old Jesuit priest and activist working with tribal peoples, was the last to be arrested in the case, sparking outrage from sections of civil society.
.
