Bhima-Koregaon case: Charge sheet filed against activists
The HinduThe Pune Police on Thursday filed a 5,000-page charge sheet against five activists arrested on June 6 for their alleged linkages with the outlawed Communist Party of India and the Bhima-Koregaon clashes of January 1. On September 2, the court had granted the police a 90-day extension for filing a chargesheet against the Dalit activist-publisher Sudhir Dhawale, human rights lawyer Surendra Gadling, tribal activist Mahesh Raut, Nagpur University English Professor Shoma Sen and activist Rona Wilson. “The accused have been indicted under a number of Sections like 124A and 153 of the IPC as well as the Unlawful Activities Act for seditious activities, propagating a wrong kind of history designed to foster a climate of hate, sowing seeds of discord between communities, planning to overthrow the established government and acting as a channel for funds for a proscribed organisation,” said a senior police officer, on condition of anonymity. The complaint had accused the KKM activists of making a number of “inflammatory” speeches and delivering “socially divisive” presentations during the course of the troupe’s performance and recitals at the ‘Elgaar Parishad’, which lasted nearly eight hours and witnessed the participation of thousands of persons from more than 250 progressive social outfits including several left-leaning and Ambedkarite groups across Maharashtra.