Teltumbde along with several other civil rights activists was booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for alleged Maoist links.
Mumbai| A special court in Mumbai extended the National Investigation Agency (NIA) custody of Anand Teltumbde till 25 April. Anand Teltumbde on Tuesday had surrendered before the NIA in Mumbai. Teltumbde is accused of alleged Maoist links in organizing the Elgar Parishad.
Teltumbde along with several other civil rights activists was booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for alleged Maoist links and plan to overthrow the government. The activists were earlier booked by the Pune Police after the violence that erupted in Bhima-Koregaon of Maharashtra.
Teltumbde’s surrender came on 14 April, on a day of the birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. Teltumbde is Ambedkar’s grandson-in-law.
In his open letter before he surrendered, Teltumbde had written an entire account of events that took place in his life since the Bhima-Koregaon incident.
Stressing on his innocence, Teltumbde had said, “I have been a simple person who has been earning his bread honestly and helping people to the extent possible with my knowledge through writings. I have an unblemished record of service for nearly five decades to this country in various roles in the corporate world, as a teacher, as a civil rights activist and a public intellectual. In my voluminous writings comprising over 30 books, and numerous papers/articles/comments/columns/interviews, published internationally, not an insinuation of support to violence or any subversive movement could be found.”
Labelling the entire case as “a clumsy and criminal fabrication”, the management professor had said, “The case may be depicted for your understanding as follows: suddenly, a police posse descends down on your residence and ransacks your house without showing any warrant. At the end, they arrest you and lodge in the police lockup. In the court, they would say that while investigating a theft (or any other complaint) case in xxx place (substitute any place in India) police recovered a pen drive or a computer from yyy (substitute any name) in which some letters written by a supposed member of some banned organisation were recovered that had a mention of zzz who according to the police is none other than you. They present you as part of deep conspiracy.”
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
