'Centre transferred Bhima-Koregaon probe to NIA without state consent'

In a sudden move the Centre has transferred the KoregaonBhima case to the National Investigation Agency Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said on Friday nightIn a late night tweet Deshmukh said I strongly condemn the decision to transfer the investigation of KoregaonBhima case to NIA by the Central Government without any consent of Maharashtra State Government The Union Home Ministry and the NIA were maintaining complete silence in New Delhi and the spokespersons of the two departments were not responding to queries from reportersThe decision of the Centre has left the Maharashtra government fuming with Deshmukh tweeting that the Centre took this decision after the new Shiv SenaNCPCongress government in Maharashtra decided to go to the root of the matter I condemn this decision This is against the Constitution the minister who belongs to the NCP added The case was being probed by the Pune policeThe police had on Thursday briefed state Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Deshmukh about the status of the probe NCP chief Sharad Pawar had demanded that a Special Investigation Team SIT be set up under a retired judge to probe the action taken by Pune Police in the case The move comes a day after NCP president Sharad Pawar demanded probe by a Special Investigation Team in the KoregaonBhima violence the Ministry of Home Affairs transferred the case to the NIA said NCP spokesperson Mahesh TapaseWhat is the BJP afraid of Why have they suddenly lost faith in Maharashtra Police he asked Earlier in the day another NCP leader and minister Jitendra Awhad alleged that the KoregaonBhima violence case was a conspiracy of the previous BJPled government to malign the image of activists sympathetic to Dalit causes Taking action against those who recite poems of Namdeo Dhasal a Marathi poet and Dalit activist and arresting people on allegations of plotting to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi is too much The case should be investigated again the minister had saidViolence had broken out near the KoregaonBhima war memorial in Pune district on January 1 2018 Dalits visit the memorial in large numbers as it commemorates the victory of British forces which included Dalit Mahar soldiers over the army of the Brahmin Peshwa rulers of Pune in 1818 The police had claimed that provocative speeches at Elgar Parishad conclave in Pune on December 31 2017 led to the violence and Maoists were behind the conclaveThey later arrested several Leftleaning activists including Telugu poet Varavara Rao and activist Sudha Bharadwaj for alleged links to Maoists During the probe Pune Police had claimed that Maoists and their supporters in urban areas were discussing a Rajiv Gandhitype assissination plan against ModiIncidentally as per the NIA Act when the Centre deems any case fit to be probed by the NIA the state police has to transfer relevant records to the Central agencyCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever