The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday took over the investigation in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence case on the directions of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday took over the investigation in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence case on the directions of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The development has already sparked a tussle between the BJP led government at the Centre and the Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra with the latter hitting out at the former for not consulting it before transferring the case.
Following the development, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh took to microblogging site Twitter to express his displeasure. "...I condemn this decision. This is against the Constitution," Deshmukh tweeted.
On the other hand, former Maharashtra CM and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis backed the MHA's decision of transferring the probe to NIA and said that it will stop the urban Naxals. "It is the correct decision because this case isn't confined to Maharashtra, we see its spread all over the country. The central government has taken the right step. This will expose urban Naxals," Fadnavis was quoted by news agency ANI.
The case was being probed by the Pune Police, before being transferred to the NIA. During the investigation, the police had claimed that Maoists and their urban supporters were discussing a 'Rajiv Gandhi-type' assassination plan against PM Narendra Modi.
Earlier on Friday, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar demanded an SIT to be formed to investigate the case. Labelling serious allegations against former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his government, Pawar had said that electronic equipment was tampered with and evidence was destroyed to misguide they tempered with the electronic equipment, adding that false proofs were also created.
In a two-page letter that was written last week to CM Uddhav Thackeray, Pawar has sought a thorough investigation of the matter and accused the earlier government of 'gross abuse of power'. "The Fadnavis government provided wrong information to the media and created confusion," the NCP chief said in the letter.
On Thursday, Maharashtra Police briefed Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Home Minister Anil Deshmukh about the status of probe in the Bhima Koregaon case that took place in Pune on January 1, 2018.
A review meeting was called to review the progress in the matter. According to sources, the home ministry expressed displeasure over the investigation raised concerns over the role of Pune police in the case. During the meeting, Deshmukh and Ajit asked several questions. The police responded to almost all the questions of the ministers but sought more time to give further clarifications on certain queries.
The Bhima Koregaon case dates back to 2018 when violence broke out near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial in Pune district.
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 "A file photo of the violence after the Bhima-Koregaon incident")
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