Bhima Koregaon violence: Police files new case after 11 months of incident

Pune rural police registered one more case in connection with the January 1 Bhima Koregaon violence after a woman alleged that her house, shop and food stall were ransacked.

Mangal Kamble, a resident of Bhima Koregaon, filed a complaint Monday at Shikrapur police station stating that her food stall was ransacked when she was giving tea and snacks to people visiting "Jay Stambh" (victory pillar). 

The victory pillar, situated in Perne village on Pune-Ahmednagar Road, was erected to commemorate the Bhima Koregaon battle between the Peshwas and East India Company forces in 1818. The area had seen violence on January 1 this year when Dalit groups had organised a function to mark the bicentenary of the battle. 

Kamble, in her complaint, said that at around 11 am that day, some 15-20 motorcycle-borne people arrived at their stall, set up outside the family-owned shop, and ransacked it. She said one of the persons in this group also hit her with a stick, adding that the incident left her family scared and they moved to Hadapsar in Pune. 

"The next day, at around 2 pm, our neighbour called me and informed that our house, shop and the stall had been totally damaged after they were set on fire," her complaint stated. 

While the case is being registered nearly 11 months after the incident, Kamble stated that police had carried out a 'panchnama' at the time but she could not give an estimate of her loss then. "When I came to know that the government is giving compensation to the victims of the violence, I decided to file a police case," she stated. 

A case has been registered against some 25 people, including four persons Kamble has named, police said. Police identified the four as Sangram Dherange, Prakash Kashid, Mukund Gavhane, all residents of Koregaon Bhima and Vishal Gavhane, a resident of Digrajwadi. 

Police inspector Sadashiv Shelar of Shikrapur police station said a case has been registered under sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly in persecution of common object), 427 (mischief), 436 (mischief by fire or explosives substance) and 323 (hurt) of the IPC. 

Relevant sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act had also been invoked, he said, adding that no arrests had been made so far.

(With inputs from agencies.)