What message central BJP government wants to give by arresting Stan Swamy asks Jharkhand CM

A day after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took Jharkhand-based tribal rights activist and Jesuit priest, Father Stan Swamy, into custody in the Bhima Koregaon Elgar Parishad case, Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Friday attacked the central government.

"What message does the central BJP government want to give by arresting 83-year-old 'Stan Swamy' who raised the voice for the poor, the deprived and the tribals? What is this stubbornness to suppress every voice of your opposition?," Soren asked in tweet in Hindi.

NIA on Friday filed a supplementary chargesheet against eight activists including Gautam Navlakha, Hany Babu, and others before a special NIA court in Mumbai in the Bhima Koregaon Elgar Parishad case.

According to the NIA, the supplementary chargesheet has been filed against eight accused including Anand Teltumbde, Gautam Navlakha, Hany Babu, Sagar Gorkha, Ramesh Gaichor, Jyoti Jagtap, Stan Swamy, and Milind Teltumbde.

The agency said that the chargesheet has been registered against the accused under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, under changes of making statements conducting to public mischief, waging war against the government.

It said that during the investigation, it was revealed that senior leaders of CPI (Maoist), a proscribed terrorist orgsation were in contact with the orgzers of Elgar Parishad and the accused to spread the ideology of Maoism, Naxalism and encourage unlawful activities.

The case pertains to the violence, which erupted at an event to mark 100 years of the Bhima-Koregaon battle on January 1 in 2018, leaving one dead and several injured, including 10 policemen.

The police had filed 58 cases against 162 people during a state-wide shutdown in January following clashes in Bhima-Koregaon.

Notably, the Pune Police had also conducted searches at the Noida residence of Hany Babu in September last year.

( With inputs from ANI )