Bhima-Koregaon Violence: Activist Varavara Rao sent to police custody till November 26 by Pune Court

Activist Varavara Rao, accused of having Maoist links, has been sent to the police custody till November 26 by the Pune Sessions Court on Sunday. He was taken into custody by the Pune Police after his house arrest extension granted by the Hyderabad High Court ended on Saturday in a case related to Elgar Parishad conclave.

Bhima Koregaon case: Activist Varavara Rao has been sent to police custody till 26 Nov by Pune Sessions Court. He was taken into custody by Pune Police after his house arrest extension granted by Hyderabad High Court ended on 17 Nov.

— ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2018

Joint Commissioner of Police (Pune) Shivaji Bodakhe on Saturday said an extension of his house arrest, granted by the Hyderabad High Court, expired on November 15. On October 26, the Pune police had taken into custody co-accused Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves, while Sudha Bharadwaj was taken into custody the next day. Left-leaning activists Rao, Ferreira, Gonsalves, Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha were arrested on August 28 after the Pune police conducted raids on various places in the country in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence case.

 The police alleged that the activists had links with the Maoists, who backed Elgar Parishad event held in Pune on December 31 last year. The Parishad, the police alleged, led to the violence at Bhima-Koregaon war memorial in Pune district the next day. However, the activists were put under house arrest on Supreme Court's order. The apex court subsequently said Pune police can go ahead with the probe. Of these five activists, Navlakha has not been taken into custody yet. Assistant Commissioner of Police Shivaji Pawar, theinvestigating officer, said a court in Hyderabad dismissedRao's application against the transit warrant obtained by Pune Police Friday.

 On November 15, the police filed a charge sheet against activists Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Shoma Sen, Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhavale in the same case. These five had been arrested on June 6. The charge sheet alleged that Maoists were trying to mobilise and incite Dalits, and Elgar Parishad was part ofthis strategy. 

(With PTI inputs)