In a new revelation in the draft charges filed before a special court in Mumbai, the NIA has said that the accused in the Elgaar Parishad-cum-Bhima-Koregaon riots case had recruited students from various universities, including the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Tata Institute for Social Sciences (TISS) for terror activities.
“...you accused no 1 to 10 along with the wanted accused no 17 to 22 being the active members of the banned terrorist organisation CPI (Maoists) and its frontal organisations recruited students from various universities, including Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Tata Institute for Social Sciences (TISS) for commission of terrorist activity,” the NIA stated in the draft charges filed before the court of Special Judge D E Kothalikar last week.
The alleged recruitment of the students of JNU, TISS and other universities is one of three fresh revelations that have been made by the NIA in its draft charges which will be formalised and formally framed against the 22 accused in the much-discussed sensational case.
The other two new revelations are: the NIA – which had earlier said that the accused in the case had conspired to wage a war against the Government of India – has for the first time said that the accused had also conspired against the Maharashtra government.
“The accused no 1 to 10 along with the deceased accused number 16 (Father Stan Lourduswamy of Tamil Nadu who died in Mumbai while in custody on July 5, 2021) and absconding accused 17 to 22 being the active members of the banned terrorist organisation CPI (Maoists) and its frontal organisations had conspired wage a war against the Government of India and the State Government..,” one of the draft charges said, adding that they conspired to overthrow the governments at the centre and in the state (both BJP).
One of the draft charges throws up the connection of Nepal and Manipur. “For the purpose ( of waging the war against the Government of India and the state government) conspired to demand and organise Rs 8 crore for annual supply of M-4 (sophisticated weapon) with 4,00,000 rounds and other arms and ammunition through a designated supplier from Nepal and Manipur and conspired to overawe the Government of India and state government by means of criminal force, show of criminal force, thereby committed the offence punishable under section 121 A of the Indian Penal Code,” another charge in the draft charges said.
Interestingly, the much-discussed sensational allegation – that the Pune police had made in the initial weeks of investigations in the case— that the weapons and ammunition required to be procured by the accused were linked to a conspiracy aimed at “assassinating” Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
At that the Pune police had talked about an allegedly incriminating letter recovered from the laptop of Human Rights activists Rona Wilson Jacob on April 17, 2018 which the investigators suspected might be Rona himself. Addressed to one comrade Prakash, the purported letter States: “We are thinking along the lines of another Rajiv Gandhi-type incident. It sounds suicidal and there is a good chance we might fail but we feel the party must deliberate over our proposal. Targeting his road shows could be an effective strategy. We collectively believe that survival of the party is supreme to all sacrifices”.
Among other things, the purported letter had stated: “Modi-led Hindu fascist regime is bulldozing its way into the lives of indigenous adivasis, in spite of big defeats like Bihar and West Bengal. Modi has successfully established BJP govt in more than 15 states. If this pace continues then it would mean immense trouble for the party on all fronts. Greater suppression of dissent and a more brutal form of Mission 2016 (OGH). Com. Kisan and few other comrades have proposed concrete steps to end Modi-raj”.
“Defeating Hindu fascism has been our core agenda and a major concern for the party.... We are trying to consolidate ties with like-minded organisations, pol. parties, representatives of minorities across the country,” the letter had stated.
The arrested accused in the cases are: Sudhir P. Dhawale, Vernon S. Gonsalves (both of Mumbai), Arun T. Fereira of Thane, Sagar Gorkhe of Ahmednagar, Ramesh Gaichor of Pune, Surendra P. Gadling, Shoma K. Sen, Mahesh S. Raut (all of Nagpur), Anand B. Teltumbde of Yavatmal, all in Maharashtra.
Two are from New Delhi - Rona J. Wilson and Gautam Navlakha, P. Varavara Rao of Hyderabad, Sudha Bharadwaj of Faridabad, Hany Babu M. Tharayil of Trichur, and the late Fr. Stan Lourduswamy of Tamil Nadu, who died on July 5 in Mumbai while in custody. The absconding-accused are: Milind Teltumbde aliases Dipak and Sahyadri of Yavatmal, Prakash Goswami aliases Navin and Ritupan Goswami of Assam, Kishan Bose aliases Prashanto of Kolkata, Mupalla Laxman Rao, alias Ganpati, Chandrashekhar, Manglu, and Deepu.
It may be recalled that the scanned copies of 10 “incriminating” letters were among the virtual and physical documents recovered by the investigators during their simultaneous raids conducted by the investigators on April 17 2018 ahead of the arrest of Wilson and other accused in the case.
Among other things, the NIA has charged the accused with promoting the activities and ideologies of the banned outfits, mobilising people and students, training in handling sophisticated arms and explosives.
The NIA’s draft charges said the larger objective was to conspire against and destabilise the governments of India and Maharashtra, threaten their sovereignty with large-scale violence, strike terror in the people, as per the draft charges.
The NIA said that to achieve their objectives, the accused - through a banned Leftist organisation and its frontal outfits - had arranged to raise Rs 8 crore for annual supplies of sophisticated weapons, the NIA said.
These include: Chinese QLZ87 Automatic Grenade Launcher, Russian GM-94 Grenade Launcher, M-4 carbines with 4,00,000 rounds, besides nitrate powder, wires, nails, logistics, and procuring arms from suppliers in Manipur and neighbouring Nepal to overawe and undermine the Centre and the Maharashtra governments.
The arrests of “Maoist-linked” activists were made under the FIR registered on January 8, 2018 at the Pune’s Vishram Baug Police Station in connection with the Elgar Parishad organised on December 31, 2017 by the leftist outfit Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) and Republican Panthers Party ahead of the January 1, 2018 Bhima-Koregaon riots.
It may be recalled that on January 1, 2018, one Rahul Phatangale (28), a Dalit, was killed and another 40-odd vehicles and some other property were damaged after some miscreants attacked Dalits celebrating the January 1, 1818 victory of British troops over Peshwa Bajirao II's army at Bhima-Koregaon in Pune district of western Maharashtra. Following the incident, Maharashtra had witnessed large-scale Dalit protests which turned violent at some places.