'Urban naxal' Anand Teltumbde arrested, granted bail

Pune: On Sunday, at 3.30 AM, writer and academic Anand Teltumbde was arrested by Pune Police from the Mumbai airport. He was allegedly involved in the violence that broke out last year in Bhima-Koregaon near Pune. However, the activist who espouses a Maoist ideology soon managed to secure bail from a sessions court.

On January 14, the Supreme Court had refused to quash the charges against Anand Teltumbde but at the same time, had granted him protection from arrest to seek anticipatory bail until February 11. Earlier the activist’s anticipatory bail application was rejected by a court in Pune and hence he was arrested a day after by Inspector Indulkar from Pune. Advocate Pradeep Mandhyan told that the Inspector was at the airport to take Teltumbde into custody as his bail was rejected.

The Supreme Court had allowed Teltumbde to approach the competent authority for regular or pre-arrest bail, granting him protection from arrest for four weeks from January 14 till February 11. Teltumbde’s counsel said he was arrested even before they would file an appeal in the Bombay High Court but the lawyer secured his bail along with the assurance that he cannot be arrested again before February 11.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Shivaji Pawar confiremed the news.

While rejecting the bail petition on Friday, Additional Sessions Judge Kishor Vadane had said that enough evidence was collected against the activist by the investigators. “In my view, there is sufficient material collected by the investigating officer to show the involvement of the present accused in the alleged commission of the offence,” the judge added. Observing that the investigation was at a crucial stage, the court had said the “custodial interrogation of the accused is necessary”.

Case against Anand Teltumbde  
 
The Pune Police had arrested suspected urban naxlas Shoma Sen, Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale in June and Gautam Navlakha, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj and Varavara Rao in August, placing them under house arrest. They were accused of being a part of an event held at Bhima-Koregaon that preceded the violence between Dalits and Marathas. The homes and offices of Teltumbde and activist Stan Swamy’s were searched.

The arrested leftists are accused of having links with the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and masterminding the violence that took place.

Teltumbde wrote an open letter, asking for public support after the Supreme Court rejected his appeal to quash the FIR on January 14. Some self-styled Ambedkrite outfits have extended their support to the Teltumbde, alumni of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and the All India Forum For Right To Education, demanding the withdrawal of charges against him.

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