SC's verdict vindicates our stand against urban Maoists: Fadnavis

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court's judgment in the Bhima-Koregaon case and said that the verdict vindicated his government's stand against the urban Maoists.

The Maharashtra's Chief Minister further claimed that all five activists were arrested on the basis of evidence collected by the Pune Police.

Addressing the media, Fadnavis said, "We welcome the decision. On basis of investigation conducted and evidence collected by the Pune Police, it has been considered valid and the SC has said it will not interfere in the investigation. The SC accepted that there is no political influence and it is not a plot to suppress the voice of the opposition. It is a great victory for Pune police and country. They have (activists) been doing this for many years but there was no evidence against them, so probe could not be completed."

Fadnavis also highlighted that the Supreme Court during the hearing said that neither the Maharashtra government or the Centre tried to suppress dissent voice.

"Today's verdict by the SC vindicates our stand against urban Maoists. In fact, this was absolutely a conspiracy against the nation. The SC pointed out that it's not a political conspiracy. The SC also appreciated that state government or the Government of India is not trying to curb dissenting voice," he added.

The Chief Minister further asserted that the arrested activists were attempting to trigger a "civil war in the country" and were also a part of the conspiracy to "kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi".

He said, "They (activists) were attempting to trigger a civil war in the country. They were trying to shield the Naxals and to kill Prime Minister Modi. Now everything is being revealed."

The Court today refused to grant relief to the five activists detained in the Bhima Koregaon violence case. The SC turned down their request for setting up of a Special Investigating Team (SIT) to look into the matter and allowed the Pune Police to go ahead with the probe.

The top court asked the activists, arrested in the Bhima Koregaon violence case, to approach an appropriate forum and go to trial court for relief. The Court also extended their house arrest for another four weeks.

The five activists namely poet Vara Vara Rao, lawyer Sudha Bhardwaj, activists Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves and Gautam Navlakha were placed under house arrest by a Supreme Court order since August 29. They were detained on August 28 from various cities for their alleged involvement in the case.