Bhima Koregaon violence: Activist Gautam Navlakha was in touch with Hizbul Mujahideen, says Pune Police
Activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused Bhima-Koregaon violence, was in touch with Pakistan terrorist outfit Hizbul Mujahideen and Kashmiri separatist leaders, claimed Pune Police on Wednesday.
The Pune police in Bombay High Court claimed that Navlakha was in touch with Hizbul Mujahideen on behalf of Maoists groups and requested the high court to quash the stay on Navlakha's arrest.
Aruna Pai, the counsel for Pune police, said some of the documents recovered from the laptops of co-accused Rona Wilson and Surendra Gadling showed that Navlakha and various Naxal groups he was associated with, had conducted "bilateral talks" with Hizbul leaders.
"He (Navlakha) has been liaising with banned terrorist organisations including Hizbul Mujahideen since 2011," she claimed.
Meanwhile, a division bench of justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre, extended protection from arrest granted to Navlakha till further hearing.
Activists Gautam Navlakha, along with a few other activists, is facing a case for alleged links with Naxals. He moved the court seeking quashing of the FIR against him.
The Pune Police told the court that the failure to arrest the Bhima-Koregaon violence accused Navlakha is creating a hindrance in their investigation.
Navlakha, earlier in 2018, was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and other offences in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence that broke out on December 31, 2017.
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