Koregaon Bhima violence: Sudden clash between groups led to violence, says Suvez Haque

Haque, now posted with the CBI, was the superintendent of Pune Rural Police when the violence had broken out. It was his team that had arrested Ekbote on charges of hatching a conspiracy to trigger violence. One person had died and several others were injured in that violence.

The two-man inquiry commission, constituted by the state government, is looking into the reasons and sequence of events leading up to the violence on January 1, when lakhs of people had gathered in the area to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon.

Haque has told the commission that the Pune Rural Police had been keeping a close watch on developments ahead of the January 1 violence, and had identified three potential flash-points in view of the large gathering expected for the 200th anniversary. His affidavit says that there were apprehensions of attacks on the house of Jamdar Malvadkar, whose family is the official caretaker of the war memorial, or Jaystambh, at Perne village, where the main function of the 200th anniversary was held, and also the possibility of damage to the roll-of-honour attached to the war memorial. The third possibility was an attack on the ‘samadhi’ of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj at Vadhu Budruk, a neighbouring village, stated Haque’s affidavit.