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HomePoliticsNo evidence to link Hindu group leader Bhide to Bhima Koregaon attack,...

No evidence to link Hindu group leader Bhide to Bhima Koregaon attack, says Maharashtra CM

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Fadnavis’ statement comes a day after thousands of Dalits led by B.R. Ambedkar’s grandson assembled in Mumbai demanding Bhide’s arrest.

Mumbai: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis Tuesday gave a clean chit to Shri Shivpratishthan Hindustan leader Sambhaji Bhide, accused of orchestrating the 1 January Bhima Koregaon attacks, for now, saying there is no evidence to link the Sangli-based leader to the incident.

The CM’s statement in the state legislative assembly came a day after thousands of Dalits led by Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, assembled in Mumbai demanding Bhide’s arrest. Ambedkar, who represents Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh, met Fadnavis and warned him of another protest if there is no action within eight days.

“As per all the evidence that is available until now… not even a single one shows the involvement of Sambhaji Bhide in any way,” Fadnavis said.

A former RSS member

Manohar Bhide, who goes by the name Sambhaji Bhide and is popularly known as Bhide guruji, was earlier with the RSS. He is known to be close to politicians across parties.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited him during his election campaign in Maharashtra and hailed him as an inspiration. The BJP-led state government had also recommended Bhide’s name for a Padma award in 2015. Ambedkar has alleged that the Maharashtra government is shielding Bhide.

Soon after the Bhima Koregaon violence, the police booked Bhide and Samasta Hindu Aghadi leader Milind Ekbote for orchestrating the attacks, based on a complaint.

One youth died and several people were injured when stones were pelted and vehicles set ablaze in villages around Koregaon Bhima in the Pune district, where Dalits from across the country were making their way for the bicentenary celebrations of the 1818 Bhima Koregaon battle on 1 January. The Pune district rural police arrested Ekbote mid-March after the Supreme Court canceled his interim bail relief.

The CM said the police took an in-camera statement from the woman complainant in the presence of the district magistrate where she denied having personally seen Bhide.

“She said she does not know Sambhaji Bhide guruji. She has never seen him, but there was some conversation going on at the spot where people had taken Bhide guruji’s name and she complained on this basis,” Fadnavis said.

“All the witnesses who were present there also say that they did not see Sambhaji Bhide guruji,” he added.

‘No communication between Bhide and other people’

He added the police had sought call data records for six months and scrutinised the activities of Bhide and about eight to 10 main activists from the organisation.

“Neither Sambhaji Bhide guruji nor the main leaders of his organisation were found to be located in the vicinity of the incident,” the CM said.

“There was no correspondence found between them and any person from the area. We did not find him speaking to anyone over the phone about the incident either,” he said.

Fadnavis, however, said that the government has not closed the inquiry and “will minutely inspect any fresh evidence that comes up”.

He said any person found to be responsible for the Bhima Koregaon violence, even if he or she turns out to be a member of the CM’s household, will not be spared.

Fadnavis said Ambedkar has flagged a Facebook post to the state government that if scrutinised properly can help the police establish the link between Bhide and the Bhima Koregaon incident and it will be seriously looked into.

According to the CM, the police are in possession of visuals that clearly establish the entire timeline of the incident. He said the state government and police also fought hard to secure Ekbote’s custody in order to interrogate him.

So far, the police have registered cases against 17 people under the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and 622 others under other laws in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence, Fadnavis said.

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