Pune police refuses permission to hold Elgar Parishad event on Dec 31 amid NIA probe

Amid the ongoing NIA investigation into the Elgar Parishad case, Pune city police on Wednesday, has denied several activists permission to hold the Elgar Parishad event on 31st December. In the event, several known activists were scheduled to participate in a closed-door program. A day after arresting Stan Swamy, NIA filed another chargesheet naming - activists Anand Teltumbde, Gautam Navlakha, Stan Swamy, Kabir Kala Manch members Hany Babu, Sagar Gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor, Jyoti Jagtap and Maoist Milind Teltumbde in connection to the case.

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Pune police denies permission to Elgar Parishad

Bhima Koregaon case: NIA counters accused Stan Swamy's claim on seizure of straw & sipper

Straw & sipper denied to Stan Swamy by NIA

Recently, 83-year-old Jesuit priest and activist - Stan Swamy had requested a straw and sipper in Taloja Central Jail, which was denied by NIA claiming ' it did not recover any straw and sipper from the activist's possession'. Suffering from Parkinson's disease, Swamy sought judicial intervention in this regard on November 6, to which NIA replied on November 26. Jail authorities have been instructed to attend to such requests 'humanely'. Currently, bail has been denied to the ailing Swamy, 80-year-old Varavara Rao - who tested positive for Coronavirus and activist Sudha Bharadwaj under 'medical grounds'. NIA has filed charges under several sections of UAPA and IPC in both its chargesheets.

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What is the Elgar Parishad case?

Pune police booked activists Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Surendra Gadling, Sudhir Dhawale, P Varavara Rao, Gautam Navlakha, Anand Teltumbde for allegedly inciting the Bhima Koregaon violence through their speech at the Elgar Parishad meeting on December 31, 2017, under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). On the following day - January 1, 2018, violence had erupted at Koregaon-Bhima village in Pune district where supporters had gathered in the village to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon. The ensuing violence had resulted in the death of one person and several others had been injured - 152 have been arrested.

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The above-mentioned activists have been charged with  'conspiracy to assassinate PM Narendra Modi', 'overthrow the government', 'waging war against the Government of India'. They are also being probed for links with the banned CPI (Maoists) party.  If convicted under 'waging war against India', all activists face the death sentence or imprisonment for life. Once the new Maha Vikas Aghadi government came into power, it mulled to review the case, leading to the NIA taking over the case on January 24.  Within 10 days - on February 3, NIA registered an FIR in the Elgar Parishad case charging 11 people under the provisions of the anti-terror law UAPA and several IPC sections.