An FIR was filed on January 2 by Dalit activist Anita Salve against Sambhaji Bhide. (File)
The Maharashtra Police has withdrawn six rioting cases lodged between 2008 and 2009 against right-wing leader Sambhaji Bhide, who has been accused of instigating the violence against those who had gathered to pay homage to the martyrs of the battle of Koregaon on its 200th anniversary on January 1.
The cases, filed against Bhide in Sangli, were withdrawn six months before the violence in Koregaon-Bhima near Pune, an RTI query has revealed. The cases against Bhide, who runs a Hindutva organisation called Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan from Sangli, were filed following a protest against movie ‘Jodha Akbar’ in 2008 and another against an artist’s depiction of the assassination of Shivaji in 2009. The FIR mentioned that the protesters indulged in rioting, stone-pelting and burning of several tyres.
A senior police official, however, said the charges against the 85-year-old in the Koregaon-Bhima violence case have not been dropped. “The cases against Bhide that were withdrawn were old cases in Sangli and have nothing to do with the Koregaon-Bhima violence,” PTI quoted Superintendent of Pune (rural) police Sandip Patil as saying.
An FIR was filed on January 2 by Dalit activist Anita Salve against Bhide and Milind Ekbote, former BJP corporator, for instigating the crowd to attack Dalits. On January 3, a Dalit, Sushma Andhare, filed an FIR claiming she had seen supporters of Bhide and Ekbote instigating crowds. The two FIRs were clubbed. While Ekbote is out on bail, Bhide was never arrested.
“The investigation in the Koregaon-Bhima violence case, in which Bhide and (Hindu Ekta Aghadi leader) Milind Ekbote are accused, is in progress,” the IPS officer said.
Patil said Pune police had in August arrested five activists while probing an alleged Maoist link to a meeting of the Elgaar Parishad in Pune on the eve of the violence in Koregaon-Bhima. “We are waiting for the development, in that case, that is why (filing of) charge sheet in our (Koregaon-Bhima) case is pending,” he said.
Development exposes BJP’s anti-Dalit stand: CPI(M)
Meanwhile, CPI(M) said the withdrawal of rioting cases against Bhide exposed BJP’s “anti-Dalit” stand. The party also alleged that the Devendra Fadnavis government had also withdrawn cases against hundreds of BJP and Shiv Sena workers. “In sharp contrast, the cases that were slapped against Dalit activists remain and they continue to be subjected to undue harassment. This totally exposes BJP’s anti-Dalit stand. This is condemnable,” CPI(M) said.