Pune: A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team arrived in the city on Monday, days after the agency was entrusted with the probe into the Koregaon-Bhima-Elgar Parishad case by the Centre, police sources said here.
The three-member team of the central agency landed here on Monday morning and later met officials of the city police handling the sensitive case, which has triggered a new round of war of words between ruling and opposition parties in Maharashtra, the sources said.
The case, in which human rights activists have been arrested, pertains to caste violence that took place near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial in Pune district on January 1, 2018, following alleged provocative speeches at the Elgar Parishad conclave held the previous day.
The case was transferred by the Centre from the Pune police to the NIA, an agency that handles terror-related matters, on Friday, a move criticised by the three-party ruling coalition in the state.
Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had on Friday night condemned the Centre's decision to transfer the case to the NIA without consent of the state government. The NCP minister had termed the move as unconstitutional.