On Sunday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Maharashtra withdrew at least six cases of rioting against right-wing leader and the main suspect in Koregaon-Bhima violence, Sambhaji Bhide. Similarly, cases against hundreds of his workers have also been withdrawn.
This was revealed in an RTI filed by Mumbai-based activist Shakeel Ahmed Shaikh, reported NDTV.
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Additionally, cases registered against leaders of the BJP and Shiv Sena and thousands of workers were also withdrawn by the BJP-Shiv Sena government.
According to the RTI, at least eight circulars were circulated by the Fadnavis government demanding the withdrawal of cases registered against Bhide and other party workers.
“The Maharashtra government has withdrawn 41 cases in the last one year. Of these 14 cases were dropped against MLAs, BJP and Sena leaders and their party supporters,” Shaikh told NDTV.
“Had these cases not been withdrawn against Mr Bhide, the Koregaon-Bhime violence could have been avoided,” he added.
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Earlier, a report submitted by a 10-member committee formed by the Pune Police named Bhide and Milind Ekbote as the main accused in instigating the Bhima-Koregaon violence that took place on January 1.
The police, however, stated that no charges against Bhide have been withdrawn in connection to Koregaon-Bhima violence case.”The investigation is in progress,” Pune Superintendent of Police (SP) Sandeep Patil told news agency ANI.