Bhima-Koregaon violence: Police planned to arrest 10 more

MUMBAI: Pune police were planning to arrest at least 10 more people across the country after they detained five rights activists in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence. The move was halted following the Supreme Court’s order that the five arrested on Tuesday be kept under house arrest till September 6.

“Once they were in our custody, we were to take the custody of at least ten more people,” joint police commissioner of Pune, Shivaji Bhodke, told ET. These people would likely be arrested as the police have only postponed the move as of now, he said.

Bhodke did not reveal the names of those who would be arrested, but said they too were involved in a conspiracy to overthrow the government.


When asked about police’s claim about the accused planning to procure arms and the kind of evidence they have, Bhodke said: “We were to get this information about where they were to procure the arms and whether it had come to India from their interrogation. We’ve got evidence from documents and emails seized from their houses.”

The Goa house of Anand Teltumbde, a civil rights activist, was also raided. However, Teltumbde was not at home and hence was not arrested.

Meanwhile, leading intellectuals and civil society members on Thursday demanded action against the Maharashtra Police for launching a “vicious and mala fide attack” against human rights activists and called for an immediate end to “such political acts of vendetta."