Bhima Koregaon: Court rejects bail application of 3 activists

Pune: The Pune Sessions Court on Friday rejected bail plea of Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira and Sudha Bharadwaj, three of the five activists arrested on August 28 in the Bhima Koregaon violence case.

On October 24, the Pune Sessions Court had said that it will pronounce the verdict on bail applications of Gonsalves, Ferreira and Bharadwaj today.

All three are presently under house arrest which is ending today.

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi will on October 29 hear Maharashtra government’s plea challenging a Bombay High Court order that refused to grant more time to the Pune Police for filing charge sheet against activists arrested in connection with the case.

The five activists, namely poet Varavara Rao, lawyer Bharadwaj, activists Ferreira, Gonsalves and Gautam Navlakha, have been under house arrest since August 28 for their alleged involvement in the violence which took place on January 1.

However, Hyderabad High Court yesterday extended the house arrest of activist Rao by three weeks.

The five accused were arrested from various cities for their alleged involvement in the violence during the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle. One person was killed and many were injured in the clashes.

[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]