9 accused in Elgar case produced in NIA court, next hearing on Mar 13

MUMBAI: The nine accused arrested in the Elgar Parishad case were produced before the special NIA court here on Friday.

The special court judge DE Kothalikar sent all the accused -Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale, Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj, Shoma Sen and Vernon Gonsalves -- to judicial custody and posted the matter for hearing on March 13.

The special judge will hear all the pending applications, including those filed in Pune court.

The lawyer representing the NIA said a charge sheet had been filed in the Pune court and interim applications of some of the accused were pending.

On February 14, a court in Pune which was hearing the case passed an order transferring the case to the special NIA court in Mumbai in response to the central agency’s plea.

The Pune court had directed that the accused should be produced before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai before or on February 28. Last month, the Centre had transferred the probe from Pune police to NIA which was criticised by Maharashtra’s Shiv Sena- Nationalist Congress Party-congress government.

The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches delivered at the Elgar Parishad conclave, held at Shaniwarwada in Pune on December 31, 2017, which police claimed triggered violence near the Koregaon-bhima war memorial in the district the next day.

Pune police claimed the conclave was backed by Maoists. During the probe, the police arrested these nine activists for alleged Maoist links. These activists are among 11 people booked by NIA in the case.