Elgar Parishad accused get 'cloned copies' of seized electronic evidence
PUNE: The Pune Police on Wednesday handed over 'cloned copies' of the electronic evidence seized during the investigation to the accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.
Hard disks containing cloned copies were given to the lawyers of all nine accused -- Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Shoma Sen, Arun Ferriera, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj and Varavara Rao -- in the court of additional sessions judge S R Navander.
Defence lawyer Rohan Nahar, who is representing some of the accused, expressed disappointment over the data which was given.
"We want actual copies that were seized during the searches. What we are getting is some sort of analysis of the seized data done by Forensic Science Laboratory," he said.
A senior police officer, who is associated with the probe, said everything has been handed over to the accused.
"We have provided both -- actual seized copies and the annexure of the reports from FSL," he said.
Meanwhile, the court has asked the prosecution to file a `draft-charge' against the accused.
"The prosecution has been asked to file a draft charge on December 18 and asked to argue on it. On that basis the court will frame the charges," said Special Public prosecutor Ujjwala Pawar.
According to the Pune Police, Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, was supported by the maoists, and the inflammatory speeches made at the event led to caste violence at Koregaon Bhima war memorial the next day.