Pune, Dec 5 (NIE): Another First Information Report (FIR) has been registered in connection with the violence that broke out in Koregaon Bhima on January 1 and 2 this year.
The FIR, registered under provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and sections of the Indian Penal Code, was registered late on Monday by a Dalit woman whose house and shop were allegedly vandalised and set on fire by a violent mob over the two days.
The violence had broken out while thousands of people had gathered in the area to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon. One person was killed and hundreds, including policemen, injured in the violence. Subsequently, several cases were registered at local police stations and nearby jurisdictions.
A complaint in this regard was registered at Shikrapur police station under Pune Rural jurisdiction by Mangal Kamble, a resident of Koregaon-Bhima. In her complaint, Kamble said on January 1, her family was distributing tea and snacks to the people who had come to visit the ‘Jaystambh’, or victory memorial, outside her residence.
At 11 am, stone-pelting suddenly started in the area and about 20 bike-borne persons came to her stall and went on a rampage, said Kamble. She said one of them attacked her with a wooden stick.
Kamble said as she and her family members feared further violence from the mob, they left Koregaon-Bhima and went to their house in Hadapsar. She said the next day, on January 2, she got a call from her neighbour, who informed her that her house, the stall located next to it and their shop had been vandalised and set ablaze by a mob of over 150 people.
Kamble said police had made a ‘panchnama’ after the incident, but she could not estimate how much she had lost in the fire.
“When I got to know that the government was giving compensation to victims of the violence, I decided to file a police case,” she stated.
The FIR has been registered against 25 people, of whom four persons — Sangram Dherange, Prakash Kashid, Mukund Gavhane and Vishal Gavhane — have been named by Kamble.
“As part of the cases registered subsequently, the said incident was inquired into as part of another FIR. But the complainant approached us recently, saying that a separate case be registered. An FIR has been filed accordingly,” said Additional Superintendent of Police, Pune Rural, Sandip Pakhale.
The FIR has been registered under Indian Penal Code sections pertaining to unlawful assembly, rioting, unlawful assembly, mischief by fire or explosives substance and causing hurt, as well as sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Police are yet to make any arrests in the case.