But it’s not just the apex court and the Pune Police which are looking at the ‘Five’ – a retired high court judge and two district judges have also been scanning the Bhima Koregaon incident in which the ‘Five’ were allegedly involved, according to the police. The report of this unofficial committee will ultimately find its way to the Supreme Court, but when is not specified.

For now, news is that the probe has indicted the police and questioned the then superintendent of Pune police (rural) Mohd. Suvez Haq’s “inaction and inability to control the mob” that indulged in violence on January 1 at Bhima Koregaon. Justice (retired) B. Chandra Kumar of the Hyderabad high court, along with two district judges of Maharashtra, J.H. Dongre and Manik Mhakre, went to Bhima Koregaon to record evidence.

The probe concluded that the violence could have been controlled, if not averted, if the police and administration had reacted promptly. It noted, “On January 1, a huge mob of nearly 2,000 people carrying lathis and saffron flags from Vadhu Budruk area were allowed to head towards the Vijay Stambh… Superintendent of Police Mohd. Suvez Haq and other police officers were present … No steps were taken by the police to stop this procession.”

Soon after the riots, Haq was transferred to the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad and then inducted into the CBI. The committee also considered if events prior to Elgar Parishad at Shaniwarwada on December 31 could be the reason for the violence. The probe believes events that took place in and around Koregaon were the cause for the violence.

The Pune Police has so far arrested 10 persons for their alleged role in Naxal activities and for funding violence. The 10 include the ‘Five’ now placed under house arrest by the Supreme Court after their transit remands were cancelled. The Pune Police made a laughing stock of itself by coming totally unprepared to haul the ‘Five’ to interrogation.

The unofficial committee blamed “activities” in Sanaswadi and Vadhu Budruk villages for the Bhima Koregoan violence, by directing the people to observe ‘Total Bandh’ and to observe January 1, 2018, as a “Black Day”. The probe committee also comprised lawyers and social activists from Pune. The second part of the report will take account the protests organised across the state and police action after the Bhima Koregaon violence.

The first part described how even a state minister’s warnings were overlooked. Told of the “tense situation”, minister of state for social justice Dilip Kamble reached the spot and asked the police to act immediately but in vain. Thereafter, he reportedly made a call to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis but even that failed to move the police. The police took no steps to protect “shops and houses”.

The unofficial committee probe report doesn’t mention the role of the so-called Urban Naxals in the Bhima Koregaon violence. Instead, it said it was “a systematically planned caste violence” involving mobs from villages in the vicinity of Koregaon. Whether the top court will take into account the findings of the unofficial probe or not is not known. But, it will definitely play in the mind of the Pune Police, which just last week held a press conference to “present evidence” that the ‘Five’ were very much involved. (IPA Service)