Mumbai – Maharastra Government has exenorated hundreds of rioters of Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan and their right-wing leader Sambhaji Bhide accused in Koregaon-Bhima voilence.
However, Police have clarified that no charges against 85-year-old Sambhaji Bhide and others have been removed in Koregaon-Bhima violence case.
According to ANI News agency, Pune Superintendent of Police Sandeeep Patil told, “The investigation is in progress” .
Three of the six cases dropped against the former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) member were related to violence following the release of Hindi film Jodhaa Akbar.
In the protests led by the Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan, hundreds of activists tore down posters of the film and shouted slogans outside a multiplex in Sangli, about 375 km from Mumbai. The protesters went on a rampage throwing stones at cops and damaging buses and vehicles, including a police van.
The information revealed by the RTI added that at least eight circulars were issued by the Maharashtra government since June last year asking for withdrawal of cases against Mr Bhide, leaders of the BJP and Shiv Sena and thousands of party workers.
The RTI, filed by Mumbai-based activist Shakeel Ahmed Shaikh, had sought information since 2008 on the number of cases withdrawn against political leaders and individuals. The reply to the RTI said that the first such notification was issued in 2017 during the BJP-Sena regime.
“The Maharashtra government has withdrawn 41 cases in the last one year. Of these 14 cases were dropped against MLAs, BJP and Sena leaders and their party supporters,” Mr Shaikh told Media.
Had these cases not been withdrawn against Mr Bhide, the Koregaon-Bhime violence could have been avoided, the activist added.
Sambhaji Bhide is accused of instigating violence against the 200th anniversary celebrations of the Koregaon-Bhima battle. The violence that occurred near the war memorial at Koregaon-Bhima near Pune on January 1 had triggered a sharp reaction from Dalit organisations, which called for a shutdown in Mumbai and elsewhere in Maharashtra.
A report by a 10-member committee formed by the Pune Police said that the violence in which one person was killed and many injured was orchestrated by Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote. Mr Bhide was named in the FIR registered in the case.
The violence resurfaced in August after five activists were arrested following multi-city raids by the Pune Police. The police said these “urban Naxals” used the Elgar Parishad event to whip up sentiments that triggered the violence in Koregaon-Bhima.
