The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has submitted a list of 17 draft charges in a 15-page document claiming that the accused in Bhima Koregaon case recruited students from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) for “commission of terrorist activities”. The charges do not mention the plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which was an initial allegation leveled by the investigating agency while arresting the accused. However, the draft charges speak of a conspiracy to arrange weapons “to attempt or cause death of public functionary.”
The NIA has said in the draft charges that all the arrested accused are “members of the banned terrorist organisation whose main objective is to establish ‘Janata Sarkar’ i.e.people’s government via revolution supported by a commitment to protracted armed struggle to undermine and to seize power from the state.”
In furtherance of the conspiracy, the accused persons, being active members of banned terrorist organisation CPI (Maoist) and its frontal organisations, recruited students from various universities, the draft said. The accused persons held training camps at various regions to recruit cadres at all levels for commission of terrorist activities of the CPI (Maoist), the anti-terror agency said.
The draft lays down 17 offences against the 15 accused, including academicians, human rights and civil liberties activists, and they have been sought to be charged under various sections of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The draft charges alleged that the accused persons were active members of the CPI (Maoist) and arranged and managed meetings for the purpose of encouraging support for the banned terror outfit to further its activities.
The accused persons also sought and collected funds for the purposes of terrorism, the NIA alleged. (They were involved in) organising, collecting and participating in providing funds through the banned terrorist organisation in order to cover the expenses of rebellious activities, and coordinated the Bhima Koregaon programme (held in Pune) with underground Naxalites and exploited the communal sentiments of Dalit and other minority forces and individuals across the state and provoked them in the name of caste in order to create instability and chaos in Maharashtra, the draft said.
“To incite the people and create violence and to spread disaffection towards the government established by law and to commit illegal act with the intention to further activities to commit conspiracy or attempt to commit or advocate a bed or inside the people to create public disorder with intent to threaten The unity integrity security or sovereignty of India,” the NIA says in the draft charges.
“The accused meaning the active members of the said band organisation and its frontal organisations conspired to wage war against the Government of India and the state government and for the same conspired to demand and organise rupees 8 crore for annual supply of sophisticated weapon M4 with 400000 rounds and other arms and ammunition through designated supplier from Nepal and Manipur and conspired to overall the Government of India and the state government by means of criminal force show of a criminal force and thereby committed the offence,” it said further.
The draft charges were submitted earlier this month before special judge DE Kothalikar against Surendra Gadling, Rona Wilson, Sudheer Dhavale, Varavara Rao, Mahesh Raut, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj, Anand teltumbde, Gautam navlakha, Hani Babu, late Father Stan Swamy, Sagar gorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor and Jyoti Jagtap. Six accused have been named as absconding.
The special NIA court is yet to frame the charges in the case. The court had earlier said it would first dispose of all applications filed by the accused persons before hearing them on the charges.
The Elgar Parishad case is related to alleged inflammatory speeches made at a conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which, the police claimed, triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city. The prosecution claimed the conclave was organised by people with alleged Maoist links. The case was initially probed by the Pune police and later transferred to the NIA by the Centre.
(With inputs from PTI)
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