Bhima-Koregaon case: Meeting to review violence in Pune underway; Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar and state HM Anil Deshmukh in attendance

Mumbai: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh met senior police officials in Mumbai on Thursday to review the case of violence at Koregaon Bhima in Pune on 1 January, 2018. The meeting is currently underway at the state secretariat in Mumbai, an official said. [caption id=“attachment_1750571” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] NCP leader Ajit Pawar in this file photo. PTI[/caption] NCP chief Sharad Pawar in December demanded that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) be set up under a retired judge to probe the action taken by Pune Police in the Koregaon Bhima case. NCP leader Deshmukh, after taking charge as Home minister, earlier in January had said that he would seek a status report on the case and then take a decision. The term “urban Naxal” was used by the Pune Police probing the alleged links between the Elgar Parishad conclave of 31 December, 2017, and the caste clashes around Koregaon Bhima in Pune district the next day. While some rights activists were arrested in the case by the Pune city police, their rural counterparts had booked Hindutva leaders Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide for allegedly inciting violence. Ekbote was granted bail by the Supreme Court, while Bhide was never arrested. The Pune Police have claimed the conclave was backed by Maoists. The parishad, they alleged, instigated violence near the Koregaon Bhima war memorial on 1 January, 2018.