Bhima-Koregaon: Accused lawyer refuses to depose before Inquiry Comm

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The accused lawyer Surendra Gadling who was a key accused in the Bhima Koregaon case in Urban Naxal connection on Friday has refused to depose before the Bhima Koregaon Inquiry Commission asserting that it might affect his argument before the trial court.

Gadchiroli based lawyer, Gadling was arrested by Pune police in organising the event at Shaniwar Wada on December 31, 2017. A commission of retired judge has been formed to probe the incident in Pune.

Gadling informed the commission that his argument in the case will be out in the open if he deposes before them. He, along with co-accused Sudhir Dhawale, was summoned by the inquiry commission last month and were asked to appear before the commission on September 6 and 7, this year respectively. Sudhir Dhawale has too been slated to appear before the commission on Saturday.

Both of them were arrested last year and are currently lodged at Yerawada Central Prison.

On January 1 in 2018, violence had erupted at an event to mark 100 years of the Koregaon-Bhima battle, leaving one dead and several injured, including 10 policemen.

In this regard, the police had filed 58 cases against 162 people during a state-wide shutdown in January following clashes in Koregaon-Bhima. An investigation by Pune police revealed that Elgaar Parishad triggered the violence of Koregoan Bhima.

Later that year, they filed a charge sheet against ten people, including five arrested activists- Roma Wilson, Shoma Sen, Sudhir Dhawale, Mahesh Raut and Surendra Gadling and five absconding accused- Commander Dipak Milind Teltumbde, Kishanda Prashant Bose, Prakash Naveen Rituoam Goswami, Commanders Deepu and Manglu.

The police, in its charge sheet, alleged that Elgaar Parishad, which was organised at Pune's Shaniwar Wada on December 31, 2017, had aggravated the violence in Koregaon Bhima a day later.

The charge sheet further states that a letter recovered from one of the accused revealed that a conspiracy was being framed to plan a Rajiv Gandhi like assassination to take down Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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