Balasaheb Thorat condemns transfer of Bhima-Koregaon probe to NIA by Centre

Maharashtra Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat on Friday condemned the act of BJP-led Central government for transferring the probe of the 2018 Koregaon-Bhima violence case to the National Investigation Agency without the state government's consent. Taking to Twitter, Thorat said that the decision of Centre was unconstitutional and against the federal structure of India.

In his tweet, Thorat said, "We strongly condemn the decision of the central government to hurry the investigation of the Bhima Koregaon case to the National Investigation Agency without taking the state government into confidence." 

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Earlier, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Friday had also hit out at the Union government, claiming that it has transferred the probe of the 2018 Koregaon-Bhima violence case to the National Investigation Agency without the state government's consent. The case was being probed by the Pune Police. Deshmukh tweeted on Friday evening that the Centre took this decision after the new Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government in Maharashtra decided to "go to the root of the matter".

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The Bhima Koregaon violence

Awhad’s statement comes a day after Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh reviewed the Bhima Koregaon and Elgar Parishad cases. Earlier, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar had also demanded a fresh probe into the matter. According to Deshmukh, an SIT could be set up if the Pune police were unable to substantiate their charges against the arrested activists.  

Violence had erupted at Koregaon-Bhima village in Pune district on January 1, 2018, where supporters had gathered to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon. This resulted in the death of one person and left several injured. Subsequently, the Pune police arrested activists such as Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Ferreira, and Vernon Gonsalves, Surendra Gadling, Sudhir Dhawale and P Varavara Rao for allegedly inciting the Bhima Koregoan violence through their speech at the Elgar Parishad meeting on December 31, 2017.   

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(image credits: PTI)