Bhima Koregaon violence: Court grants 90-day extension to Pune Police for filing chargesheet

New Delhi: Pune Sessions Court on Sunday granted a 90-day extension to the city police to file the chargesheet in a case registered against five accused in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence that took place on January 1.

The case has been registered against Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, Sudhir Dhawale and Rona Wilson.

The Pune Police had on Saturday filed an application in a Pune court, requesting a deadline extension regarding filing the chargesheet.

The bail application of accused Surendra Gadling and Shoma Sen will be heard on September 6 before the sessions court. The application for shifting them from Yerwada Jail to any other jail will also be heard on the same day.

The application to shift the accused was moved by the jail authorities. Overcrowding and security issues in the Yerwada Jail are the reasons mentioned by them for the transfer of the accused.

Earlier this week, police arrested five left-wing activists, after raiding their homes in several states for suspected Maoist links over the Elgar Parishad meeting which was held a day before the violence.

The police raided the homes of the activists and lawyers from five states - Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, Bharadwaj in Faridabad and Gautam Navalakha in Delhi. 

In a media briefing on Friday, the police had released details of seized letters related to five activists arrested in June in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence.

The police also claimed they have "conclusive proof" to link Left-wing activists arrested in June and this week to Maoists, saying one of them spoke of a "Rajiv Gandhi-type event to end Modi-raj".

(With inputs from agencies)