Elgar Parishad: Accused shifted from Yerawada Central Jail to Mumbai

Days after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took over the probe of the Elgar Parishad-Maoist link case, the accused were shifted from Pune's Yerawada Central Jail to Mumbai on Wednesday.

All nine accused -- Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale, Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj, Shoma Sen and Vernon Gonsalves were shifted to Mumbai.

The men were sent to Arthur Road jail whie the women accused were sent to Byculla Prison, said an official here.

On February 14, the court in Pune which was hearing the case passed an order transferring the case to the special NIA court in Mumbai in response to the central agency's plea.

The accused should be produced before the NIA court in Mumbai before or on February 28, the court had said.

The Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government in Maharashtra had initially opposed the transfer of the case from Pune Police to the Central agency, alleging that the decision was taken only after the state government decided to review the investigation.

According to Pune Police, `inflammatory' speeches at Elgar Parishad, a conclave allegedly backed by Maoists, led to caste violence at Koregaon-Bhima war memorial in the district on January 1, 2018.

During the probe, the police arrested nine Left-wing activists, accusing them of having links with Maoists.