Those arrested in the Elgar Parishad case have been systematically denied medical treatment, their family members alleged on Saturday, reported PTI.
The allegation comes two days after activist Vernon Gonsalves, one of the accused in the case, contracted dengue in prison and is on oxygen support in Mumbai’s JJ Hospital. The 65-year-old undertrial is lodged in Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai.
The Elgar Parishad event took place in Pune on December 31, 2017, a day before violent clashes broke out between Maratha and Dalit groups near the village of Bhima Koregaon in Maharashtra. Sixteen people were arrested for allegedly plotting the violence.
While Dalit groups and individuals have accused Hindutva leaders Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide of instigating the violence through hate speeches before the incident, the focus of the National Investigation Agency has been on the Elgar Parishad event being part of a larger Maoist conspiracy to stoke caste violence, destabilise the Central government and assassinate the prime minister.
The Centre transferred the case to the National Investigation Agency in January 2020. The trial in the case is yet to begin.
Out of the 16 arrested persons, 84-year-old Jesuit priest Stan Swamy died at a hospital in Mumbai while in custody. Two other accused persons, Sudha Bharadwaj and Varavara Rao, are currently out on bail.
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