MUMBAI: The NIA has arrested three persons including a woman, all members of the outlawed CPI(Maoist)’s frontal organisation, in connection with the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case, an official said.
Sagar Tatyaram Gorkhe, 32, and Ramesh Murlidhar Gaichor, 36, were arrested on Monday while Jyoti Raghoba Jagtap, 33, was arrested on Tuesday, an NIA spokesperson said.
They all are residents of Pune. The accused are members of Kabir Kala Manch, a frontal organisation of the banned terrorist organisation CPI (M), the official said.
The case relates to an Elgar Parishad event of December 31, 2017, organised by the Kabir Kala Manch at Shaniwarwada in Pune, where alleged provocative speeches were made, promoting enmity between various caste groups and leading to violence resulting in the loss of life and property and a statewide agitation in Maharashtra, the official said.
During investigation, it was revealed that senior leaders of the CPI (M), a banned organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, were in contact with the organisers of Elgar Parishad as well as the accused arrested in the case to spread the ideology of Maoism/Naxalism and encourage unlawful activities, the official of the central investigation agency said.
The Pune police filed a charge sheet and a supplementary charge sheet in the case on November 15, 2018 and February 21, 2019 respectively.