Cops retrieve letter from nabbed activist's laptop, say it was penned by suspected Maoist who lauded Elgaar
Wednesday's arrest of five Dalit activists for their alleged role in the Januray 1 Bhima Koregaon violence came after the Pune police in April retrieved an explosive letter from the laptop of one of the accused, Rona Wilson, who was arrested in Delhi.
The letter dated January 2 was allegdley written by a core committee member of the banned outfit, CPI-Maoist. It lauded the efforts by Rona and others to make Elgaar Parishad — organised by Dalit and left-wing organisations at Pune's Shaniwarwada on December 31 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle — a success, the cops said.
A day after the event, the area saw violence in which one person was killed and many others were injured.
The letter also detailed a larger conspiracy by the group to carry out similar events in BJP-dominated areas, the police claimed.
"We had conducted searches at Wilson's residence in Delhi and seized his passport and computer, and retrieved a letter written by one Comrade M, who we believe is a senior member of CPI-Maoist's central committee. He was praising Wilson and others for making it the event a success," said a police source.
"The letter said the one riot fatality should be exploited and more such events should be held at places governed by BJP. It said sympathisers in London, Sweden and US backed the movement, adn asked for new passwords to be sent out to the group to plan future course of action," the source said.
While Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale was arrested from Mumbai, lawyer Surendra Gadling, retired professor Shoma Sen and activists Mahesh Raut and Rona Wilson were nabbed from Delhi. The police claim they are associated with the Parishad.
POLICE CLAIM
- The police claimed funding for Elgaar Parishad was generated through the Maoist movement three months before the event.
- The letter will likely be part of the charge sheet.
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