Arrest of activists to be challenged in SC today
New Delhi, Aug 29 (IBNS): The arrest of five social activists with alleged Maoist links and in connection with the Jan 1 Bhima Koregaon violence near Pune will be challenged in the Supreme Court on Wednesday, reports said.
The activists were arrested on Tuesday from different parts of the country.
A petition against the arrests will be filed by senior lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan and some others in the top court at 10:30 am, reported NDTV.
Several rights activists, including Maoist ideologue Varavara Rao and lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, were arrested by Pune Police in multi-city raids on Tuesday in connection with the Dalit-upper caste violence in Bhima Koregaon in January this year, triggering strong reactions from the critics of the BJP-led government at the centre.
Five activists with alleged Maoist links were arrested on Tuesday in multi-city raids by Pune police while several others were searched, said reports.
Police said the inflammatory speeches made at the Elgaar Parishad on the eve of the bicentennial celebration of the battle of Bhima Koregaon, had led to the violence in and around Pune. The Elgaar Parishad was organised to commemorate the battle of Bhima Koregaon on January 1, 1818 in which a British army comprising a large number of Dalit soldiers had defeated the Peshwas.
The raids on Tuesday were carried out in several cities like Delhi, Faridabad, Goa, Mumbai, Ranchi, and Hyderabad.
The arrested activists are Varavara Rao, lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, activists Arun Fereira, Gautam Navlakha and Vernon Gonsalves, said reports.
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