Father Stan, Navlakha among 8 charge-sheeted

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, Oct 9

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) today said it had arrested octogenarian human rights activists and tribal leader Father Stan Swamy from his home in Ranchi for his alleged role in the Bhima-Koregaon violence near Pune on January 1, 2018. Father Stan has been remanded to judicial custody till October 23.

Sources said he was an active member of the proscribed CPI (Maoist) and had received funds through an associate for the organisation’s activities. “Swami is a convener of the Persecuted Prisoners Solidarity Committee (PPSC), a frontal organisation of the CPI (Maoist). Documents related to communications for furthering the activities of the CPI (Maoist) and propaganda material of the CPI (Maoist) were seized from his possession,” a senior NIA official said.

Father Stan was allegedly in contact with Bhima-Koregaon conspirators Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Hany Babu, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde for furthering the group’s activities.

The NIA has filed a charge-sheet in a designated court against eight persons, including Navlakha, Father Stan and Teltumbde, for allegedly inciting violence in Bhima-Koregaon. The charge-sheet does not mention human rights activist Bharadwaj, who has been in jail since 2018.

The cleric is the sixteenth person to be arrested in the case. Ahead of his arrest, he had posted a video, saying the NIA had interrogated him for 15 hours in a span of five days. “I have never been to Bhima-Koregaon for which I am being made an accused,” he said.