Pune, September 2: The Pune Sessions Court has granted a 90-day extension to Pune Police to file chargesheet in a case registered against five accused Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, Sudhir Dhawale and Rona Wilson in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence which took place on January 1, this year. Pune police arrested five Dalit activists on June 6 in connection with the violence. The activists had organised the Elgar Parishad on December 31-January 1 in Bhima-Koregaon, which led to violent clashes between a section of Dalit and Maratha communities.

The activists were booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The police also claimed to have established links between the arrested activists and Naxal elements in the state. Meanwhile, On August 28, Pune police also conducted raids five states and arrested five more activists. The activists arrested on August 28 are lawyer and trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj, poet P Varavara Rao, activist Gautam Navlakha, and lawyers Arun Pereira and Vernon Gonsalves.

They have been charged under the relevant Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections for criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity among castes and religious groups, along with the provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The police had claimed to have found evidence - emails, documents, literary materials – which indicated that the left wing extremists (LWE) were planning to conduct a "Rajiv Gandhi-type" assassination bid on PM Modi.

On January 1, this year the clashes erupted when Dalit groups commemorated the 200th anniversary of Bhima Koregaon battle in 1818 when the East India Company's army consisted of Mahars, a Dalit community defeated the upper-caste Peshwa's forces. However, some Hindutva organisations had opposed the commemoration. Following which the clashes erupted. Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh leader Prakash Ambedkar had given a call for state-wide shut-down on January 3, which too witnessed violence in Maharashtra.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 02, 2018 12:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).