Cop who received village ‘bandh’ letter deposes before Koregaon Bhima panel

Hole is being examined before the commission in connection with the Koregaon Bhima village “bandh” letter he had received from a gram panchayat staffer while performing his duty at the Shikrapur police station on December 31, 2017.

The letter stated that Koregaon Bhima village will observe “bandh” on January 1, 2018 to prevent any law and order situation in view of the incidents, alluding to tensions over installation of a board with disputed history, at Vadhu Budruk village — known for the Samadhi (memorial) of legendary king Chattrapati Sambhaji Maharaj.

As per Hole’s affidavit before the commission, action was taken against him for allegedly failing to immediately inform his superiors about this letter. For this “mistake”, Hole was given a “shasti” (warning) by the Superintendent of Pune rural police through an order dated August 12, 2019.

Hole stated in his affidavit that he could not pay attention to the letter on December 31 as he was busy due to the workload for the programme to mark the 200th anniversary of battle of Koregaon Bhima on January 1, 2018.

Hole’s chief examination was recorded by commission’s lawyer Aashish Satpute on Friday in Pune. He was then cross-examined by advocate Rahul Makhare.

Earlier, a gram panchayat clerk Sagar Gavhane was examined before the commission. Sagar’s affidavit mentions that former deputy sarpanch Ganesh Phadtare called him urgently to the gram panchayat office on December 31, 2017 and asked him to type the “bandh” letter. The letter names Phadtare as a proposer and Yogesh Narhari Gavhane as the person who seconded it.

The affidavit mentions that Sagar told Phadtare that Yogesh was not present in the village. But Phadtare raised his voice and asked Sagar to type Yogesh’s name. Following this, sarpanch Sangita Kamble came over and signed the letter, the affidavit further stated. A gram panchayat peon gave the letter to the police. The letter is dated December 30 but it was typed and given to police on December 31.

There are allegations that the “bandh” was called in Koregaon Bhima as a part of conspiracy to cause riots. But during cross-examination, Sagar had told the commission that an informal meeting of the villagers took place in Koregaon Bhima on December 30 wherein they expressed their concern over the tense situation in Vadhu Budruk the previous day.

Following the discussions among villagers, Phadtare and his associates allegedly got a letter prepared from Sagar on December 31. But the letter was entered in the outward register of the gram panchayat for December 30, 2017 as December 31 was Sunday, Sagar had stated. Phadtare was also examined as a witness before the commission.