Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday said he came to know from the media the Centre's decision to hand over the Bhima Koregaon violence case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). He informed that the state government has yet to formally receive the Centre's communication in this regard.
''After the government gets the Centre's letter, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and I will decide the future course of action. In the meanwhile, the state government has sought the legal opinion from the Advocate General,'' Deshmukh told reporters.
Deshmukh's statement is important as the Pune police on Monday refused to hand over the papers pertaining to the Bhima Koregaon violence case to the visiting NIA team citing that they were awaiting sanction from the Director-General of Police to release their investigation to the NIA.
Deshmukh has condemned the Centre's move saying that it was done without taking the state government into confidence. He had also termed the Centre's decision was against provisions of the Constitution of India.
Further, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who had dashed off a two-page letter to Thackeray demanding fresh probe into Bhima Koregaon violence and Elgar Parishad by special investigation team, had also attacked the Centre and claimed that it was motivated by fears that a fresh investigation could expose wrongdoings by the BJP-led government that was in power at the time.
On the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register for Citizens, Deshmukh assured that nobody will lose the citizenship in Maharashtra.
