Ajit Pawar helping NIA to takeover Bhima Koregaon probe?

Pawar Jr defies uncle once again.

While the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is struggling to get the documents related to the investigation of Bhim Koregaon violence, it has found an unusual friend in the government who is helping them to get what the Agency needs. Highly reliable sources in New Delhi said, a senior minister in Maharashtra government is facilitating transfer of documents without any tampering.

It was on January 1, 2018, that millions of people who had come to village Bhima Koregaon in Pune district to pay tributes to the Mahar warriors who fought against the Peshva army two centuries ago. After the initial altercations with another group, violence was triggered and soon spread across the state. The Pune police, after the investigations had arrested many people including activists Activists Vernon Gonsalvis, Sudha Bharadwaj and Arun Ferrira among others. The arrests evoked protests claiming the accused to be social and human right activists, academicians, authors and intellectuals.

After the change of government in the state, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar first raised doubts over the investigations and demanded a review. He even wrote a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to re-probe the entire case. Pawar had even claimed that the previous government had staged the violence and implicated the intellectuals and activists in it. However, even before CM Thackeray could take decision on the letter by Sharad Pawar, in a swift action, central government intervened and handed over the investigations to NIA. The decision left Sharad Pawar furious and the state government started dragging feet on handing over the documents to NIA. Interestingly, immediately after Sharad Pawar put a question mark on the investigations by Pune police, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar gave a clean chit saying that there was nothing wrong with the investigations and Pune police had done a great job.

Anticipating foul play by state government, Ajit Pawar is learnt to have ensured that all the documents reach NIA, without tampering, highly placed sources in New Delhi told The News 21.  

Sources said that the state home ministry under Devendra Fadnavis had kept the centre informed about all the developments in the probe. But the flow of information stopped after the change of guard in the state. “The papers were in the safe custody till the MVA government was formed. But once it came to power, threat loomed large on the entire probe and safety of the documents could be jeopardised as the home ministry went to NCP.” Sources said. It is also learnt that the police officer involved in the investigations met Ajit Pawar, few days before the MVA government was formed and handed him check list of papers and evidences to be kept in safe custody. Ajit Pawar could not be reached for his version. He did not respond to text messages as well. 

The inquiry into the Bhima Koregaon violence appears to have hit a major road block. Non payment of salaries to the staff of the Commission, has posed a major hindrance. The situation has come to such a pass that, the chairman of the commission JN Patel has written to government asking winding up of the Commission. Speaking the The News 21 Patel said, “The government has not paid the salaries for last six months. The Home department officials have given cold shoulder to all our requests to release the funds. It is not possible for us to continue functioning like this. If the government doesn’t have funds it should wind up the Commission.  After getting lukewarm response from the officials, I have finally written to the government, asking closure of the Commission and inquiry.”