Elgar Parishad: 3 Kabir Kala Manch members' remand extended

Mumbai: A special court in Mumbai on Friday extended till September 19 the NIA remand of three alleged members of a frontal organisation of the proscribed CPI (Maoist) arrested in connection with the Koregaon Bhima- Elgar Parishad case.

Sagar Tatyaram Gorkhe(32), Ramesh Murlidhar Gaichor (36) and Jyoti Raghoba Jagtap (33), who were arrested earlier this week, were produced before special NIA Judge D E Kothalikar on Friday after their first remand period of four days ended.

Special public prosecutor Prakash Shetty, appearing for NIA, said further custody was required as the allegations against the three were serious, the case involved deep-rooted conspiracy and required detailed probe.

The three need to be confronted with data recovered from the other accused in the case, Shetty told court.

The NIA court extended the custody of the three till September 19.

The three, all residents of Pune, are members of the Kabir Kala Manch, which is a frontal organisation of the CPI (Maoist), the NIA has stated.

The case against them relates to the Elgar Parishad event of December 31, 2017, organised by the Kabir Kala Manch at Shaniwarwada in Pune.

Alleged inflammatory speeches at the event led to caste violence in Pune and other parts of the state over the next few days.

Gorkhe, Gaichor and Jagtap were named in the FIR registered by Pune police in the matter.

The probe was taken over by NIA in January this year, after which the Central agency held activists Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha in April and Hanybabu Musaliyavirtil Tarayil (54), a resident of Gautam Buddha Nagar in Uttar Pradesh and an associate professor in Delhi University' Department of English, on July 28.

The NIA has said Gorkhe, Gaichor and Jagtap were propagating Naxal activities, were co-conspirators with other arrested accused, were in contact with absconding accused Milind Teltumbde over the Naxal's urban network, and had also undergone training in weapons and explosives in the jungles.

In June, 2018, Teltumbde discussed with them the Elgar Parishad which was organised at Pune, it said.