PUNE: The Pune
police said they have adequate evidence to show the “participation of Maoists
and the inspiration they provided to the organisers” of the Elgar Parishad at
Shaniwarwada in Pune a day before the January 1 clashes in Koregaon Bhima.
After an FIR was registered on January 8 with the Vishrambaug
police, the Pune police had carried out searches in the residences of members
of Kabir Kala Manch, a left-leaning cultural organisation, and Maoist
sympathisers in Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Nagpur and other places on April 17 and
seized several incriminating documents, pamphlets, laptops and hard disks.
“These were subjected to scrutiny which unraveled the link
between Elgar Parishad organisers and the CPI (Maoist) elements,” the Pune
police said. In a pre-dawn swoop on Wednesday, the Pune police arrested
Surendra Gadling, Soma Sen and Mahesh Raut from Nagpur, Sudhir Dhawale from
Mumbai and Rona Wilson from Delhi in connection with the January 8 FIR about
“provocative speeches at Elgar Parishad aimed at misleading the dalit community
and ingraining hardline Maoist thinking to create a rift between two
communities”.
According to the FIR, the provocative speeches contributed to
the clashes in Koregaon Bhima where a large number of dalits had gathered to
commemorate the 200th anniversary of the battle between the British and Peshwa
troops in 1818.
Joint commissioner of police Ravindra Kadam told reporters, “A
careful scrutiny of the forensic clone copies of computer and laptop hard disks
seized from Gadling and Wilson, respectively, revealed documents showing their
close relations with the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) outfit.”
Kadam claimed that investigators have also recovered from
Wilson's laptop a letter addressed to him by Maoist mastermind Milind Teltumbde
on January 2, seeking to know how the Koregaon Bhima clashes can be capitalised
on with help from some political parties.
Kadam said, “The letter has named a couple of political
parties and a prominent dalit leader. We will check the veracity of the
contents of this letter soon,” he added. Teltumbde, who is the secretary of the
banned CPI (Maoist)’s Maharashtra Rajya State Committee, carries a Rs 50 lakh
reward. The senior police officer said both Gadling and Wilson were in touch
with dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale, one of the organisers of the Elgar
Parishad.
“Police have recovered
documents establishing such a link. Dhawale was in touch with Maoist comrades
Manglu and Deepu for almost two months. They discussed at length how to raise
funds for the Parishad. The Maoists did raise funds for the Parishad,” Kadam
added. “Deepu, Manglu and some of the arrested persons have also been involved
in different attacks on security personnel in Jharkhand, Odisha, Maharashtra
and other states,” Kadam said.
Investigators also recovered evidence linking retired Nagpur
University professor Soma Sen and Prime Minister Rural Development fellow
Mahesh Raut with the banned CPI (Maoist) outfit, Kadam added. Sen attended the
Parishad and was involved in its planning, he said.
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