Tuesday (September 10): Pune Police today, in connection with the Bhima Koregaon Case, searched the residence of academic-activist and Delhi University (DU) professor Dr. Hany Babu in Noida. Assistant Commissioner of Police Shivaji Pawar, who is probing the case, confirmed that the search was conducted at Babu’s house.
Dr. Hany Babu was not arrested nor was he named as an accused in the case, the police said.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (Swargate division) Shivaji Pawar, the investigating officer in the case along with Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime) Bachchan Singh and others conducted the search.
Jenny Rowena, Dr. Babu’s wife, claimed the police searched their house for nearly six hours, without a warrant and have taken in his laptop, mobile phone and pen drives along with other articles.
Dr. Babu teaches English language at DU. He is also the coordinator of the ‘Alliance of Social Justice’ and a member of the ‘Joint Action Front for Democratic Education’.
About Bhima Koregaon Violence of 2018:
Bhima Koregaon violence was the attack on visitors during an annual celebratory gathering, which consisted largely of Mahars, at Bhima Koregaon to mark the 200th year of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon victory. During the event, stone-pelting incidents happened in Bhima Koregaon which were followed by nation wide protests resulting in one death, 30 policemen being injured and over 300 people being detained.
Investigation by the police in the following months resulted in various arrests. In August 2018 five activists, including Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha, were picked up in simultaneous raids across the country, the police alleged that the activists had ties to Maoists, apart from links to the Bhima Koregaon incident.
