The National Investigation Agency on Tuesday opposed the plea challenging the transfer of the Elgar Parishad case investigation from the P...
The National Investigation Agency on Tuesday opposed the plea challenging the transfer of the Elgar Parishad case investigation from the Pune Police, saying that it was fighting the “Naxal plague” in the country, reported India Today.
The central agency made the statement in an affidavit on a plea by activists Surendra Gadling and Sudhir Dhawale, who are accused in the case. They have challenged the transfer of the case from the Pune Police to the central agency in January 2020.
Both Gadling and Dhawale were arrested in 2018 in connection with the case, which pertains to a first information report alleging that banned Naxalite groups had organised the Elgar Parishad in Pune on December 31, 2017. The police claim that the speeches made during the event led to violence the next day.
On Tuesday, the NIA said in its reply that the Centre had suo motu directed it to take up investigating the case in view of the gravity of the offence and as it had implications on “national security”, reported The Indian Express.
The NIA also said that it was only discharging its “obligated duties as per law” in the case. The central agency sought the dismissal of the petition, claiming that submissions made by the petitioners were “reckless” and “misleading”, reported Bar and...
