Two Maharashtra Police officers are facing dismissal for alleged negligence in the investigation of a fatal Porsche crash in Pune last year. The officers were suspended for their late reporting of the incident and dereliction of duty, and an internal inquiry revealed lapses in the case registration and blood sample collection. The case involves a drunk minor driver who killed two tech professionals, and there was an attempt to swap blood samples to conceal the driver's intoxication.
The Prevention of Corruption Act was also invoked as the juvenile is accused of colluding with his parents, doctors from the government-run Sassoon Hospital and some middlemen to swap his blood samples, the official said.
The sessions court is hearing the bail applications of six accused in the case, namely, the minor's parents Vishal Agarwal and Shivani Agarwal; Sassoon hospital's Dr Ajay Taware and Dr Shreehari Halnor, and alleged middlemen Ashpak Makandar and Amar Gaikwad.
With all the evasions, one assertion made by the Pune (Rural) police stood out: They had found no connection of the Elgar Parishad with the violent incidents of January 1, 2018. Yet, the case against the 'Bhima Koregaon 16', which is based on exactly this alleged connection, continues, and seven of the accused continue to be behind bars under the UAPA, explains Jyoti Punwani.
For four days, the officer avoided giving any straight answers, becoming the first witness in the 48 witnesses that have appeared so far, to have achieved this feat.
ACP Shivaji Pawar has been asked to file his affidavit by August 15.
'We want the Commission to finish its work; the issue it is investigating is too crucial for its work to be left incomplete.'
There exists a curious link between Advocate Niteen Pradhan's client Milind Ekbote and Harshali Potdar: Both have blamed each other for the Bhima Koregaon violence, notes Jyoti Punwani.
'The circumstances indicate that the government is not serious about the commission...' '...We are not at the mercy of the government.'
The reasons for the snail's pace at which the commission is proceeding are linked both to the government's indifference to it as well as the indifference of the parties appearing before it.
'Not giving the Commission space in Mumbai is an insult to Maharashtra's Dalits who are waiting for the inquiry report.'
No report of the violence was sent by Mumbai's police commissioner to the government. Why was the violence then considered serious enough to be included in the Terms of Reference? Was it a balancing act to counter the accusations that were then being made against Hindutva leaders Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote?
'Both sides were so embittered by what had happened last year that I didn't know what to expect.'
Testimony presented before the Bhima Korgaon Commission over the last two months reveals the background to the violence that broke out on January 1, 2018.
'Was he afraid that his answers during cross-examination would land him in trouble under the new ruling dispensation?'
'Those who attacked me, punish them.'
If the Bhima Koregaon commission is terminated before completing its work, the people affected by the violence 'would feel cheated'.
Ambedkar told Rediff.com that he intended making an application that private witnesses not be cross-examined by the Bhima Koregaon Commission of Inquiry.
Government rejects activists' request. Commission requests new witness to attend.
Curiously, on one aspect -- the large turnout of Dalits at Bhima-Koregaon -- both the counsel for the government and police, and the counsel for Milind Ekbote, an accused in the Bhima-Koregaon violence, pursued the same line of questioning. They asked Tukaram Gavare about the planning that must have gone behind this turnout.
Tanaji Sable's story confirmed what the first witness had told the commission: That the Dalits who had gone to Bhima-Koregaon were stoned; that there were motorcyclists bearing saffron flags roaming around inspiring fear; that the police did nothing to protect the Dalits.
He is neither a victim of the violence that broke out at Bhima Koregaon on January 1, 2018 nor an eye-witness to it. Yet, Bhimrao Bansod testified for a full 14 days before the judicial commission of inquiry set up to inquire into the violence.
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