Bhima Koregaon violence: One more case registered

Press Trust of India  |  Pune 

rural police registered one more case in connection with the January 1 violence after a woman alleged that her house, shop and stall were ransacked.

Mangal Kamble, a resident of Koregaon, filed a complaint Monday at station stating that her stall was ransacked when she was giving tea and snacks to people visiting "Jay Stambh" (victory pillar).

The victory pillar, situated in Perne village on Pune-Ahmednagar Road, was erected to commemorate the battle between the Peshwas and Company forces in 1818.

The area had seen violence on January 1 this year when Dalit groups had organised a function to mark the bicentenary of the battle.

Kamble, in her complaint, said that at around 11am that day, some 15-20 motorcycle-borne people arrived at their stall, set up outside the family-owned shop, and ransacked it.

She said one of the persons in this group also hit her with a stick, adding that the incident left her family scared and they moved to Hadapsar in

"The next day, at around 2 pm, our neighbour called me and informed that our house, shop and the stall had been totally damaged after they were set on fire," her complaint stated.

While the case is being registered nearly 11 months after the incident, Kamble stated that police had carried out a 'panchnama' at the time but she could not give an estimate of her loss then.

"When I came to know that the government is giving compensation to the victims of the violence, I decided to file a police case," she stated.

A case has been registered against some 25 people, including four persons Kamble has named, police said.

Police identified the four as Sangram Dherange, Prakash Kashid, Mukund Gavhane, all residents of Bhima and Vishal Gavhane, a resident of Digrajwadi.

Police of station said a case has been registered under sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly in persecution of common object), 427 (mischief), 436 (mischief by fire or explosives substance) and 323 (hurt) of the IPC.

Relevant sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act had also been invoked, he said, adding that no arrests had been made so far.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Tue, December 04 2018. 21:35 IST