Cultural activist Jyoti Jagtap has filed a discharge application in the Elgar Parishad - Bhima Koregaon case in which she is an accused and pointed out that the 10-member committee led by the Pune Mayor had submitted a report on the violence and alleged that Hindutva leaders Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide were among the four main conspirators of it.
Her plea filed through advocate Sharif Shaikh and Kritika Agarwal further said that the investigation in the case had begun by the Pune police on the complaint of one Tushar Damgude, who alleged that the violence was a result of provocative speeches in the Elgar Parishad conclave. She pointed out that there was an eight-day delay in lodging this FIR. Jagtap further stated in her plea that in Feb 2018, the state police had opposed the anticipatory bail plea of Ekbote and stated that he had 23 cases pending against him and that he had played a pivotal role in the conspiracy and the commission of the violence.
The NIA has alleged that Jyoti is a member of Kabir Kala Manch, which it claims is a frontal organization of the Communist Party of India (Maoist). It has also alleged that she had met a wanted, now deceased, top Maoist leader Milind Teltumbde in Korchi area and taken arms training in 2011. Jagtap denied having gone to the location or taken the training. Her plea says that only one protected witness speaks about her undergoing training. The plea said it must be borne in mind that she was in her early 20’s in 2011.
“The alleged training undergone in 2011 has no bearing in the present offence and is being used as a smoke screen by the NIA to implicate her in a case that does not exist,” the application said.
