Elgar Parishad case: Custody of 3 Kabir Kala Manch members extended till September 19

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court on Friday extended NIA custody of three members of Kabir Kala Manch – Jyoti Jagtap, Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor – till September 19.

Gorkhe and Gaichor were arrested by NIA on Monday, while Jagtap was arrested on Tuesday, for their alleged role in the Elgar Parishad case.

As their custody ended on Friday, special public prosecutor Prakash Shetty sought for extension of their custody. Shetty contended that they got very less time to interrogate them.

The prosecution argued that the case involves a deep-rooted conspiracy whereby the accused need to be confronted with the data recovered.

NIA has so far alleged that the three accused, Jagtap, Gorkhe and Gaichor, “were propagating Naxal activities and Maoist ideology”, and were co-conspirators with others arrested. “It has also come on record that they were in contact with Milind Teltumbde, who is absconding, about the urban network of CPI (Maoist). It is established that during their visits [of Kabir Kala Manch members] in the jungle, they underwent weapon and explosive training, and awareness programmes on various topics related to the Maoist movement,” the agency had claimed in the statement released following their arrest.

“It is also established that as per the evidence on record, in June 2018, Teltumbde discussed the Elgar Parishad programme which was organised at Pune, the subsequent in-roads made by the CPI (Maoist) in the organisation, and execution through the members of Kabir Kala Manch and other frontal organisations,” the NIA statement added.

The three accused were named in the original first information report (FIR) registered by Pune Police against the organisers of the event held at Shaniwarwada on December 31, 2017. According to the FIR registered at Vishraumbaug police station, on January 8, members of Kabir Kala Manch had allegedly made provocative speeches, sang songs and performed skits that led to violence at Bhima Koregaon on January 1, 2018.

The initial investigation was conducted by Pune Police and two charge sheets were filed in the case. The probe was transferred to NIA earlier this year. The agency has so far arrested Anand Teltumbde, Gautam Navlakha and Hanybabu Musaliyavittil Tarayil.