Bhima Koregaon case: High Court extends house arrest of activist Varavara Rao

Hyderabad High Court on Thursday extended the house arrest of activist Varavara Rao by three weeks.

Rao was one of the five activists who was detained on August 28 from various cities for their alleged involvement in the violence that erupted in Pune in January this year during an event organised to mark 200 years of the Bhima Koregaon battle.

He was later put under house arrest in Hyderabad following an order by the Supreme Court on August 30.

After several hearings in the case, the Supreme Court on September 28 turned down the request to set up a Special Investigating Team (SIT) to probe the Bhima Koregaon violence case and extended the house arrest of five activists for four more weeks.

Earlier in the day, the Maharashtra government had approached the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court order that refused to grant more time to the Pune Police for filing charge sheet against activists arrested in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case.

Violence erupted during the 200th-anniversary celebrations of the Bhima Koregaon battle in January this year, leaving one dead and several others injured.

-ANI