08 January,2026 05:53 PM IST | Pune | mid-day online correspondent
Uddhav Thackeray stated that the letters were addressed to the CMO. File Pic
Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray has informed the inquiry commission probing the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence that certain letters written by NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar should still be available with the current Chief Minister's Office (CMO), reported the PTI.
The commission had issued a notice to Thackeray in October 2025, asking him to produce documents and letters allegedly submitted by Pawar during Thackeray's tenure as Maharashtra Chief Minister.
In an affidavit filed before the panel last week, Thackeray stated that the letters were addressed to the CMO and, in line with established administrative procedures, all such correspondence is officially recorded and preserved in the Chief Minister's Office, according to the PTI.
According to the affidavit, Thackeray became aware of the letters through an application filed by Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar, who is a witness in the case.
Ambedkar had claimed that Pawar wrote two letters in 2020 regarding the Koregaon Bhima violence when Thackeray was Chief Minister.
In February last year, Ambedkar had sought a direction from the commission instructing Uddhav Thackeray to produce the letters. He stated that in the correspondence, Pawar had named individuals allegedly responsible for the violence that took place near Pune in 2018, as per the PTI.
Uddhav Thackeray said that during his tenure, the CMO functioned with transparency and proper record-keeping. If Pawar had indeed sent such letters, they should be available in official records, he maintained.
"As I am no longer the Chief Minister, it would be appropriate to seek these letters from the current Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the Chief Minister's Office," the affidavit said, reported the PTI.
The former Chief Minister further stated that if the violence was triggered by caste-related issues, it would indicate that the incident was premeditated. He added that in such cases, innocent persons are often falsely implicated, and stressed that those actually responsible for the violence should be identified and punished.
The Maharashtra government constituted the inquiry commission in February 2018. The panel is headed by former Bombay High Court Chief Justice J N Patel, with former chief secretary Sumit Mullick as its member.
According to Pune police, violence erupted on January 1, 2018 near the war memorial in Pune district during the bicentenary commemoration of the 1818 Battle of Koregaon Bhima. One person was killed and several others, including 10 police personnel, were injured.
Police have alleged that provocative speeches at the Elgar Parishad conclave, held in Pune on 31 December 2017, led to the violence. The organisers of the conclave were also alleged to have links with Maoist groups, the news agency reported.
(with PTI inputs)
