After the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government informed that it doesn’t have any objection with National Investigation Agency (NIA) taking over the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon violence case, State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said he wanted the state police to investigate the matter while adding that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has “overruled” the stand of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on the issue.
On Thursday, Additional Chief Secretary of Home Department, Sanjay Kumar informed news agency that “the state home department has no objection to the case being entrusted to the NIA.”
It was learned that the Maharashtra government had a meeting with the police officers earlier after which it was ordered to transfer the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon violence case to NIA. As per sources, state advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhkoni advised the government that the state can’t resist the NIA from taking over the investigation in this matter.
Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh later confirmed the same saying that he wanted the state police to probe the Bhima Koregaon violence case in which nine human rights activist and academicians have been jailed under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. They were arrested by Pune Police during the Devendra Fadnavis-led government in the state.
“I wanted the state police to investigate the (Elgar Parishad) case. However, the case has been taken over by the NIA from Maharashtra police. The Chief Minister has the right to overrule me,” Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said.
This signals towards a budding rift between the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) as the latter had taken a stand to resist against the central government’s decision to transfer the case to NIA.
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Earlier, NCP chief Sharad Pawar had advocated forming a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter. Pawar had stated that the centre was afraid that the “truth will come out” while Deshmukh had alleged that the Devendra Fadnavis regime was trying to protect “some people.”
NCP chief Sharad Pawar has also said that the behaviour of some people in Maharashtra police was “objectionable” and demanded that the role of these officers should be investigated.
The centre on January 24 transferred the Elgar Parishad case to NIA from Pune Police. This move was criticised by the three-party (Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress) MVA government in the state. CM Uddhav Thackeray had expressed that the central government should have taken the state government in confidence before its decision.
However, the Maharashtra government has decided to transfer the case to NIA. The central investigation agency has filed an application in the Pune sessions court seeking transfer of the case ‘evidence’ and records to the special NIA court in Mumbai.
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The Pune Police had arrested activists and academicians including Sudhir Dhawale, Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Rona Wilson and Shoma Sen in the case.
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