Bhima Koregaon raids: Late night drama in Faridabad as cops lead Sudha Bharadwaj to court despite HC order

The custody battle for activist Sudha Bharadwaj took a dramatic turn in late night action after Tuesday’s sweeping raids by Pune police in connection with violence at Maharashtra’s Koregaon-Bhima village on 31 December last year when Dalit activists clashed with upper-caste Marathas. Bharadwaj, arrested from her Faridabad residence Tuesday, is being taken to Pune against the orders of Punjab and Haryana High Court, her lawyers are now claiming. Well after midnight local time, reports from location indicate that Bharadwaj is being held in a Toyota Innova vehicle parked just outside the house of the CJM in Faridabad’s Sector 15A. At this time, the CJM is consulting with the district judge. The Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered that Bharadwaj will not be remanded to Maharashtra Police custody till the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) of Faridabad passes an order granting this transit remand. Advocates RS Bains and Ankit Grewal appeared for Bharadwaj before the High Court.

Sudha Bharadwaj has been produced AGAIN before CJM Faridabad. Her lawyers are not being allowed entry. #BhimaKoregaon @Sudhabharadwaj

— Bar and Bench (@barandbench) August 28, 2018

Nine rights activists were searched and five of them arrested Tuesday over allegations of Maoist links after sweeping multi-city raids across in Delhi, Faridabad, Goa, Mumbai, Ranchi and Hyderabad. Maoist ideologue Varavara Rao, lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, and activists Arun Fereira, Gautam Navlakha and Vernon Gonsalves are the five people who have been taken into custody Tuesday. [caption id=“attachment_5065501” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Activist Sudha Bharadwaj. Image procured by Greeshma Rai/Firstpost[/caption]