Bhima Koregaon case: SC extends house arrest of five arrested activists till September 12

The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended the house arrest of the five activists arrested in the Bhima-Koregaon case till September 12 and also criticised the Maharashtra Police for casting aspersions on the court.

The apex court told the police that the had no right telling the court what to do or interfere in matters, reports said.

During its last hearing on August 29, the Supreme Court had halted Pune police's bid for the activists' immediate custody. Instead, the court had ordered that the activists be kept under house arrest.

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The Maharashtra government claimed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday that the five rights activists were not arrested for their dissenting views but due to the cogent evidence linking them with the banned CPI(Maoist).

The apex court while ordering the house arrest of the five activists on August 29 till Thursday had categorically said that “dissent is the safety valve of democracy”.

The counter affidavit, filed by the Maharashtra police on a plea of historian Romila Thapar and others challenging the arrest of these activists in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence case, alleged that they were planning to carry out violence in the country and ambush the security forces.

On August 28, the Maharashtra Police had raided the homes of the prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least five of them for suspected Maoist links, sparking a chorus of outraged protests from human rights defenders.

Moreover, around 250 Twitter handles were created to spread misinformation about the Koregaon-Bhima violence and to mobilse support for allegedly holding demonstrations abroad to defame the Modi government, Maharashtra Police said Wednesday.

(With inputs from PTI)