State swoops down on Dalits, links with Maoists under lens

The Maharashtra Police carried out multi-city raids on Tuesday against prominent Dalit activists and supporters -- a belated fallout of the January 1 caste riots in Koregaon-Bhima region.

The raids, which started around 5 a.m., were carried out by several teams of the Pune police at the homes and offices of various Dalit activists in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur, in an attempt to unravel their alleged links with Maoists in these urban centres.

A raid was also carried out at the residence of activist Rona Wilson in New Delhi. Besides, the police zeroed in on those involved or connected with the Elgaar Conference of December 31, 2017, held in Pune which was addressed by Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mewani and JNU student leader Umar Khalid, Chhattisgarh activist Soni Sori and Bhim Army President Vinay Ratan Singh.

The police also raided and searched the home of prominent lawyer Surendra Gadling in Nagpur. He was representing several alleged Maoists in different courts, including the former Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba. Searches continued on the premises of the left outfit Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) and the Republican Panthers Party in connection with the Elgaar Conference. In Mumbai, searches were carried out in the residences of Left activists Sudhir Dhawale, Harshali Potdar and Jyoti Jagtap. The police produced search warrants at all places and carried away laptops, literature and pamphlets.

The raids followed a complaint registered against the KKM and other activists for organising the Elgaar Conference.

Reacting sharply to the police action, Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh President Prakash Ambedkar termed it "harassment and diversionary tactics" by the government.

"Instead of arresting Sambhaji Bhide, alias Guruji, the main culprit who fuelled the Koregaon-Bhima riots, the government is indulging in these diversions. "The police have already arrested Milind Ekbote, but not Bhide. The police must declare what evidence they have found against these people," said Ambedkar, grandson of B.R. Ambedkar, chief architect of the Indian Constitution.

Ambedkar had met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on several occasions and demanded Bhide's arrest, but the state government gave a clean chit to the Hindutva leader in the matter.