BHIMA KOREGAON VIOLENCE: One detained for killing man

One of the four suspects allegedly involved in killing a 30-year-old man during the January 1 Bhima-Koregaon caste violence was on Wednesday detained by Pune Police from outside the district, an official said.

One Rahul Phatangade was assaulted and killed during the violence by a mob armed with stones and sticks.

The detainee was purportedly seen along with three other suspects in a video of the assault released by the Maharashtra Crime Investigation Department (CID) on June 8, the official said.

In the video, four people were purportedly seen assaulting Phatangade, a resident ofKanurMesainear Sanaswadi village in Pune district.

“We have detained one of the suspects who is seen in the video and we will be handing him over to the CID as they are investigating the case,” said Dayanand Dhome, senior police inspector, Chatushringi police station.

Dhome, however, refused to divulge details like the identity of the detainee and the exact location from where he was picked up.

The officer merely said the suspect was detained outside Pune district.

A senior CID official said that questioning of the suspect, who was detained by Chatushringi police, is underway and he is likely to be arrested by Thursday.

Pune (Rural) police have already arrested three people in connection with Phatangade's death. The CID took over the case in February.

“During investigation, we recovered a mobile video footage in which a huge mob is seen assaulting Phatangade with sticks and stones. We managed to identify four more assailants," Akkanouru Prasad Pralhad, Superintendent of CID's Pune unit had said. Clashes had taken place between members of the Dalit and Maratha communities around Bhima-Koregaon village during the bicentenary event of the 1818 battle in which British forces comprising a large number of Dalit soldiers had defeated the Peshwas, who represented the Maratha empire.