Court takes cognisance of Elgar Parishad charge sheet

Mumbai: A Sessions court in Mumbai on Friday took cognisance of the charge sheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against eight persons including Stan Swamy, Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Naulakha in the Elgar Parishad case. The agency claimed that the conspiracy related to the violence against Dalits in Bhima Koregaon on January 1, 2018 was part of a “well chalked-out strategy”, and spread across the country and beyond.

The NIA has filed the charge sheet under various sections of IPC, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The agency in its charge sheet has claimed that Teltumbde was one of the convenors of ‘Bhima Koregaon Shaurya Din Prerna Abhiyan’ and was present for the Elgar Parishad event on December 31, 2017 and that  Navlakha was assigned the task “to unite intellectuals against the government”. It also claimed that he was part of some self-proclaimed fact-finding committees and that during the probe his links with ISI also came to the fore.

According to the NIA, Father Stan Swamy, the 83-year-old resident of Ranchi, was a Maoist actively involved in the outfit’s activities, and had been receiving its funds. The agency claimed that documents, including propaganda material and literature, were found from his possession. On the other hand a statement by Swamy, two days before his arrest, said that the NIA had allegedly placed several extracts before him implying his connection to Maoist forces, which he claimed were fabrications stealthily put into his computer.

The NIA claimed that the role of various frontal organisations had also emerged. The agency also called Kabir Kala Manch, one such organisation, claiming that its poets and singers, Jagtap, Gorkhe and Gaichor, were trained cadres who attended meetings to organise the Elgar Parishad event.

Another claim made by the NIA is that professor Hany Babu was “instrumental in organising visits” of foreign journalists to Maoist areas, and was instrumental in making efforts for release of convicted accused G.N. Saibaba. He also has links with other banned groups, the agency has claimed.

Sixteen persons have so far been arrested in the case. Two of the accused, in a petition before the Bombay High Court, have said that the transfer of the case from Pune police to NIA this year was “due to malafides and political expediency” when the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra proposed to constitute an SIT to probe the case.