Pune Police Gets 90 Days To File Chargesheet In Bhima-Koregaon Case

In the Bhima Koregaon violence case, the police was given an extension of 90 days to file chargesheet against arrested activists Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, Sudhir Dhawale and Rona Wilson. The activists - arrested in June -- have been accused of being directly responsible for the violence in the Maharashtra village on January 1.

"The period of their judicial custody of 90 days is coming to an end on September 3. With the fresh five arrests in the case, probe is still going on," said investigating officer Shivaji Pawar was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India.

Under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which has been applied in the case, if the investigation is not completed within 90 days, the period can be extended up to 180 days.

"We approached the court today, saying investigation of the crime is in the progress and sought extension of 90 days for filing charge sheet," the officer said.

Defence lawyer Rahul Deshmukh said they did not make any argument in court today. "No argument was done from our side as the notice was served yesterday and we couldn't get time for preparation," he said.

The police have said the inflammatory speeches of the activists at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, had led to the violence at Koregaon Bhima near Pune next day. In the violence, one person was killed and at least three were injured

On August 28, the police arrested five more Left-wing activists following multi-city raids. Later, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navalakha, were placed under house arrest following an order by the Supreme Court.

The Pune police said the activists are linked to Maoist groups and have shown "intolerance to present political system".

There is "conclusive proof" that they have a nexus with other unlawful groups and deliberate involvement in larger conspiracy. They were planning to recruit members from 35 colleges and launch attacks, the police said.