Elgar case: Teltumbde surrenders before NIA

PTI, Apr 14, 2020, 3:53 PM IST

Mumbai: Activist and scholar Anand Teltumbde surrendered before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday, April 14 in connection with the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.

The activist arrived at the NIA office at Cumbala Hill in south Mumbai along with his wife Rama Teltumbde and brother-in-law and Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar.

Anand Teltumbde is the grandson-in-law of Dalit icon Dr B R Ambedkar, whose 129th birth anniversary is being observed on Tuesday.

The Supreme Court on March 17 this year rejected the pre-arrest bail pleas of Anand Teltumbde and co-accused and civil rights activist Gautam Navlakha, and directed them to surrender before the investigating agency.

“Keeping with the Supreme Court’s directive, Anand Teltumbde appeared before the NIA to surrender,” his lawyer Mihir Desai said.

“The academician will be placed under arrest and produced before a sessions court by evening,” an official said.

Anand Teltumbde and several other civil liberties activists have been booked under stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for alleged Maoist links and conspiring the overthrow the government.

The activists were booked initially by Pune Police following violence that erupted at Koregaon-Bhima there.

According to police, the activists made inflammatory speeches and provocative statements at the Elgar Parishad meet held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which triggered violence the next day.

The police also said that these activists were active members of banned Maoist groups. The case was later transferred to NIA.

Teltumbde and Navlakha were given interim protection by the Bombay High Court while their pre-arrest bail pleas were being heard.

After the high court rejected their applications, the duo approached the Supreme Court. On March 17, the apex court rejected their pleas and directed them to surrender within three weeks.

On April 9, the Supreme Court granted the duo another week to surrender by way of last chance.