PUNE: Special public prosecutor Shishir Hiray on Monday filed 110 affidavits on behalf of the Pune Rural police and other government agencies in relation to the January 1 violence in Koregaon Bhima, which is being probed by a two-member inquiry commission.Hiray told TOI, “We took around three months to prepare the affidavits giving minute details of the preparations initiated by various government departments in Koregaon Bhima on January 1. The affidavits filed on behalf of the state government justify police action as per the ground reality and need of the hour. The commission will examine the affidavits and documents submitted in the form of evidence and will take a call to examine the number of witnesses.”Besides enumerating measures taken by various stakeholders towards maintaining law and order in Koregaon Bhima on January 1, the affidavits have also considered the ‘Elgar Parishad’ held in Pune a day before the violence and a rally that was to be addressed by Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan leader Sambhaji Bhide near Koregaon Bhima.Retired chief justice of Calcutta high court Justice Jay Narayan Patel and former bureaucrat Sumit Mullick are conducting the inquiry into the violence based on certain terms and references.“The commission has set seven terms of reference for conducting the inquiry and we have given point-wise reply to the references. Additional commissioner of police Gautam Lakhmi of Mumbai police has also filed an affidavit regarding consequences of the January 1 events at the commission’s office at the World Trade Centre here,” Hiray added.The affidavits were submitted to tehsildar (rehabilitation) Vinay Salunke at the divisional commissioner’s office on behalf of superintendent of police M Suvez Haque (Pune Rural), two additional superintendents of police, six deputy superintendents of police, seven inspectors, five assistant inspectors, 41 policemen from the riot control patrol/quick response team, 18 policemen from the state reserve police force, among others.Tehsildar Salunke said, “We have received 196 affidavits, including 110 filed by Hiray, on the last day of the deadline set by the inquiry commission. The affidavits will be sent to the commission. We had earlier received 174 affidavits between May 12 and June 12. All the affidavits were mostly filed by Koregaon Bhima farmers, private persons, lawyers, social organizations, among others.”The violence started in Koregaon Bhima when two communities indulged in sloganeering that degenerated into abuses, leading to stone-pelting. It then spread to adjoining villages and resulted in the death of one person and damage to several properties and vehicles. Later, a bandh was called by the Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh which paralyzed normal life across the state on January 3.

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