VIOLENCE IN 2018: THE CASE

For decades, celebrations at Bhima Koregaon went off peacefully. But, in 2018, riots broke out, triggering a chain of violence and arrests

2017

DEC 31 Elgar Parishad, a conference organised by Left and Dalit outfits, is held in Pune

2018

JAN 1 Violence erupts at Bhima Koregaon and nearby villages amid celebrations of the 200th anniversary of a war between the British and Peshwas. The clashes leave one person dead and four others injured. The riots also cause damage to property estimated at ~40 crore.

JAN 2 An FIR is filed against right-wing Hindu leaders Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide. Police arrest Ekbote but release him later.

JAN 8 FIR is filed against six members of the Kabir Kala

Manch (KKM), a Left-leaning cultural organisation, for making "provocative" and "inflammatory" statements during Elgar Parishad. This FIR is modified on June 8 by adding the names of activists in Delhi and other cities.

FEB 14 Another FIR is registered against Gujarat MLA Jignesh

Mevani and JNU student Umar Khalid for allegedly provocative speeches at Elgar Parishad APRIL 17 Police conduct multi-city raids at the houses of prominent activists and lawyers in Pune, Mumbai and Delhi

JUNE 6 Pune police arrest five persons in connection with the Elgar Parishad: Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale, lawyer Surendra Gadling, activist Rona Wilson, activist Mahesh Raut and former professor Shoma Sen

AUGUST 28 Pune police arrest

poet P Varavara Rao, activists Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, and trade unionist and rights lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha in connection with the Elgar Parishad case

NOV 15 Pune police file charge sheet against activists and lawyers arrested in June, accusing them of “inciting” violence at Bhima Koregaon and invoking charges of

sedition

DECEMBER 22 Bombay high court calls Bhima Koregaon violence a deep-rooted conspiracy

2019

JANUARY 1 About 1 million people attend the 201st commemoration event

NOVEMBER 6 A Pune sessions court rejects the bail pleas of six people — Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Rona Wilson, Mahesh Raut, Sudhir Dhawale and P Varavara Rao

DECEMBER NCP chief Sharad Pawar seeks a fresh SIT probe, headed by a retired judge, into Pune police's action against activists

2020

JANUARY 23 Maharashtra ministers Ajit Pawar,

Anil Deshmukh meet senior police officials to discuss the future course of the investigation and the possibility of a new SIT to look into these cases