Pune ZP CEO seeks premises of old building being used for Koregaon Bhima Commission hearings

With the current office of the CEO at the new administrative building needing repair and beautification, Pune ZP CEO Ayush Prasad has sent a letter to the secretary of the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry stating the need to shift to the old building.

The two-member commission, headed by retired judge Justice J N Patel, was formed by the state government for probe into the causes of violence in the Koregaon Bhima area on January 1, 2018, in which one person had died and several others were left injured.

The state government had then allotted premises of certain government buildings in Mumbai and Pune to the commission officials and staff for carrying out their work. While the commission has its main office in Mumbai, in Pune, it operates from the premises of the old building of the ZP, located opposite the Bundgarden police station.

On June 6, Prasad sent a letter to the commission’s secretary stating that due to unavailability of space, the process is on for shifting a few departments from the new administrative building of the ZP to the old premises.

The letter further stated: “Work for repair and beautification of the CEO’s office at the new administrative building is to be started. So, the office will have to be shifted to the old ZP building. The available space in the old building is not sufficient for accommodation of other departments of ZP. So, the premises being used by the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry in the old ZP building is needed for the CEO’s office.”

The CEO further stated that if the premises given to the commission for its work is made available “as early as possible”, renovation and repair work of the CEO’s office in the new administrative building of ZP can be started “immediately”.

V V Palnitkar, secretary of the commission, said, “The commission was allotted the place by the state government. So, we have written back to the Pune ZP CEO today (Wednesday) asking him to make correspondence in this matter with the government. We have also called the CEO for a meeting, scheduled on Friday.”

Meanwhile, cross examination of deputy superintendent of police Ganesh More, who is now retired, continued before the commission on Wednesday. More was the investigation officer of the case in which Hindutva leaders Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide were booked on allegations of instigating the Koregaon Bhima violence. More was cross examined by advocates Pradeep Gawade and Rahul Makhare.