Romila Thapar, 4 others moves SC against arrest of rights activists

New Delhi: Historian Romila Thapar and four activists today moved the Supreme Court against the arrest of five rights activists by the Maharashtra Police for suspected Maoist links.

The petition against the arrest of the activists was mentioned before a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra which agreed to give an urgent hearing today itself at 3:45 PM.

In the petition, which was mentioned by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, the historian and other right activists have sought release of all activists who have been arrested during raids in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon case.

They have also sought an independent probe into the arrests.

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence between Dalits and the upper caste Peshwas at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune after an event called Elgar Parishad, or conclave, on December 31 last year.