Rashmi Shukla submits state intelligence dept’s letters on Elgaar Parishad

On Friday, Shukla will be examined as a witness before the two-member commission headed by retired Justice J N Patel. The panel is probing the causes of the Koregaon Bhima violence of January 1, 2018, in which one person died and several others were injured. Shukla was the commissioner of Pune City Police at the time of the violence and is currently posted in Hyderabad as the additional director general of CRPF (South Zone).

According to Pune City Police, the Elgaar Parishad was organised by the banned CPI-Maoist, and the speeches delivered at the conclave and previous campaigns for the event were among the factors that triggered violence in Koregaon Bhima area on January 1.

In her affidavit, Shukla has attached multiple letters received from SID officials, giving information about the rallies, long march and other programmes organised in December 2017 by the ‘Bhima Koregaon Shauryadin Prerna Abhiyaan’, a committee that organised the Elgaar Parishad. The affidavit mentions that this committee was formed with active participation of “Leftist and Naxal supporters” like Harshali Potdar, Sudhir Dhawale and others.
The SID letters had sought precautionary measures to prevent law and order situations, considering various activities to mark Koregaon Bhima “Shaurya Divas”.

The affidavit includes a letter given to the SID Commissioner by Sanjaykumar Baviskar, the then DCP (special branch), Pune City Police. The letter mentions the warning given to the then Devendra Fadnavis-led state government by the All Indian Backward (SC, ST and OBC) and Minority Communities Employees Federation (BAMCEF) over the plaque on the Jaystambh, bearing the names of martyrs (including Param Vir Chakra recipients) who fought in the 1965 and 1971 wars (against Pakistan). The plaque, titled ‘Roll of Honour’, was placed on the Jaystambh a few years ago by an Indian Army regiment.

As stated in Baviskar’s letter, the government was given an “ultimatum” and BAMCEF warned of unrest on January 1, 2018, if the plaque was not removed by December 31, 2017, claiming that names of “Brahmin, baniya and other caste soldiers” from 1965 and 1971 Wars on the Jaystambh was an “insult” and an “attempt to erase history (of the Battle of Koregaon Bhima)”.

In his letter, Baviskar also named several persons associated with the Elgaar Parishad and said their activities were being closely watched.

Shukla has also submitted information shared by the SID about some social media messages before January 1, 2018, the FIR in Elgaar Parishad case that was later transferred to the National Investigation Agency, and the FIR against Hindutva leaders Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote at the Pimpri police station, which was transferred to Pune Rural Police.

Shukla has claimed in her affidavit that all possible preventive measures were taken on January 1, 2018, due to which there was no loss of human life and no major untoward incident reported in Pune City Police jurisdiction.
On October 22, 2021, the commission’s lawyer, Aashish Satpute, had filed an application to call IPS officers Rashmi Shukla and Param Bir Singh as witnesses, saying it was necessary to bring forward intelligence inputs and all information received by the two officers.

On receiving summons, Shukla had appeared before the commission on November 18 and sought time to file her affidavit.

Meanwhile, cross-examination of ACP Ramesh Galande continued before the commission on Thursday. On Saturday, the commission is likely to visit Vadhu Budruk and Koregaon Bhima villages to study the sequence of events that took place in these areas on January 1, 2018.