Under the NIA Act, the agency can take up any case anywhere in the country but the convention is to consult the state government. “Usually, the Centre consults state governments before handing over any case to the NIA, but the home ministry transferred this probe on its own,” the Union home ministry source said. Deshmukh had in a Friday night tweet revealed the case transfer but the Centre would not confirm it till Saturday, when the home ministry spokesperson merely said the NIA had “taken over the probe”. “Urban Naxal” is one of the epithets BJP leaders and supporters tend to hurl at the government’s critics, such as those arrested in the Bhima-Koregaon case. Many Maharashtra ministers have condemned the Centre’s decision to transfer the case to the federal terror-probe agency, which has been under the scanner over the acquittal of several Hindu terror suspects.

Source: The Telegraph January 25, 2020 20:15 UTC