Updated: October 9, 2020 4:31:43 pm
From the right: Gautam Navlakha, Stan Swamy, Hany Babu and Anand Teltumbde.
The National Investigative Agency (NIA) on Friday filed a supplemental charge sheet in a Mumbai court against eight individuals in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon Case.
The first indictment brought by the central agency since it took over the Pune police investigation in January is against academician Anand Teltumbde, activist Gautam Navlakha, Delhi University associate professor Hany Babu, members of the Kabir Kala Manch cultural group – Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor and Jyoti Jagtap: Father Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist based in Jharkhand, and accused of escaping Milind Teltumbde, who is allegedly one of the main agents of the banned (Maoist) CPI .
Pune police had filed indictments against the nine previously detained defendants, including Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Arun Ferriera, Vernon Gonsalves, P Varavara Rao, Shoma Sen and Sudha Bharadwaj.
Swamy, 83, who was arrested on Thursday, was brought to Mumbai from Ranchi and presented in court at 1:30 p.m. today. The court ordered that he be sent into judicial custody until October 23. He will be admitted to the central jail of Taloja.
The case relates to an FIR filed on January 8 in Pune related to an event organized in Shaniwar Wada called Elgar Parishad on December 31, 2017. Pune police arrested activists who claimed that the event was organized as part of a alleged Maoist activity and the accused were Its members.
He claimed that the event led to the violence that took place on January 1, 2018 in Bhima Koregaon, where thousands of Dalits had gathered to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon, won by the British Army, which was composed of largely by soldiers from the Dalit community – against the Peshwas in 1818. Another FIR registered on 2 January had appointed Hindutva leaders Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide, for alleged incitement that led to violence.
After the initial investigation by the Pune police for two years, the case was transferred to the NIA in January this year. The agencies claimed that incriminating evidence in the form of letters and documents was found on the devices of some of the defendants showing their links to the banned group.
The defendants have denied any Maoist ties and have said they are being targeted.
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