Mumbai: A senior police official investigating caste violence on members of the Dalit community at Bhima Koregaon on January 1, 2018, has, on oath, admitted that the Elgar Parishad event, organised 30-kilometres away in Pune city, had no role in the violence.
This significant revelation by Sub-Divisional Police Officer Ganesh More, made before the two-member judicial commission to investigate the violence, rips to pieces the Pune police and subsequently the National Investigation Agency’s claims against the 16 human rights defenders arrested in a separate case.
The NIA claims that these 16 people played an active role in “provoking” the gathered crowd at Bhima Koregaon with their speeches and triggering violence on the 200th-anniversary celebration of the battle of Bhima Koregaon. While three persons have been released on bail, and one person died in custody, the remaining 12 continue to languish in the prisons of Mumbai.
In an ongoing deposition that began in April this year, More, who recently retired, admitted that the nine cases of atrocities – filed within his jurisdiction and investigated by him – did not show any role of the Elgar Parishad event.
The Elgar Parishad event was organised on December 31, 2017, at Shaniwar Wada, a Brahmin hub, against the casteist Brahmin Peshwa-ruled Maratha Empire.
“I did not come across any information or material to show that the incident of riots which took place on 1st January 2018, was a result of holding of Elgar Parishad on 31st December 2017 at Shaniwar Wada, Pune,” More responded to the question posed by advocate Rahul Makhare, appearing for one of the witnesses of the violence.
This is perhaps the first time any state representative has accepted that the Elgar Parishad event had no role to play in the violence.
This revelation is significant for two reasons.
While it virtually absolves those arrested in the Elgar Parishad case, it also brings the attention back to the real question: Who actually was behind the violence at Bhima Koregaon?
This story was originally published in thewire.in . Read the full story here