New Delhi: A sessions court in Pune on Sunday granted the police 90 additional days to file a chargesheet against five rights activists – Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Rona Wilson, Mahesh Raut and Sudhir Dhawale – who were arrested in June in connection with the violence which followed the Bhima-Koregaon commemorative event held in Maharashtra on January 1 this year. The police had asked for an extension to file the chargesheet on Saturday, NDTV reported.The arrested activists – like the other five rights activists arrested on August 28 – have been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and the police has claimed that they are members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).“The period of their judicial custody of 90 days is coming to an end on September 3. With the fresh five arrests in the case, probe is still going on,” assistant commissioner of police Shivaji Pawar, the investigating officer, said. The police also said that the amount of data and other seized materials they need to comb through is very large, and so more time is required.Under the UAPA, if investigations are not complete within 90 days, the period can be extended by another 90 days, Pawar said.NDTV quoted defence lawyer Rahul Deshmukh as saying that they did not make any arguments against the police’s demand because they were not given any time to prepare.“Police had not given notices to them [the activists arrested] about a plea for extension to file chargesheet, when they were brought to court. They were served notices when they were still in van after reaching the court today morning.”“Under the pretext of finding fresh evidence, the Pune police will appeal for more time to file the chargesheet in the previous case. The [August 29] arrests [of five other activists] are nothing but a tactic to divert attention from the investigations under way against the Sanatan Sanstha and to prolong the current case against human rights activists,” Susan Abraham, lawyer and wife of Vernon Gonsalves who was arrested on August 28, told The Hindu.A total of ten rights activists have now been arrested in the case, though the five activists arrested on August 28 are being kept under house arrest until September 6 under the Supreme Court’s instructions. The arrests have drawn widespread criticism from opposition parties and civil society groups, with many alleging that the government, along with the police, is attempting to silence those who speak against it while also protecting the right-wing Hindu individuals who were originally charged with inciting the violence at Bhima Koregaon.(With PTI inputs)