A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai on Wednesday, December 1, denied interim bail to activist Anand Teltumbde, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, to visit his nonagenarian mother in wake of the death of his brother Milind Teltumbde, a top Naxal leader, in an encounter with security forces last month. Anand Teltumbde is currently lodged in Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai following his arrest in the Elgar Parishad case in April 2020. Special court judge DE Kothalikar rejected his temporary bail application.
In the plea filed on November 23, Anand Teltumbde had said that he came to know that his brother Milind Teltumbde, one of the wanted accused in the case, was killed on November 13 in Gadchiroli. He added that his mother is over 90 years old and at such a moment of bereavement, he being the eldest in the family, not only his presence by the side of the mother and his siblings would be of great moral support, but also gathering of all family members would be a solace to each other. In the plea, he had sought 15-day bail.
Meanwhile, another accused in the case, Surendra Gadling has moved a plea seeking a plastic chair and table inside prison. He also sought permission for allowing a personal shaving kit to him. The court has sought a report from the prison authorities and posted the matter for hearing on December 8.
Anand Teltumbde and other activists were initially booked by the Pune police after violence erupted at Koregaon Bhima village near Pune, a day after the Elgar Parishad conclave was held in the city on December 31, 2017. The case pertains to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the conclave, which the police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Bhima-Koregaon war memorial located on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city. The police had claimed the conclave was organised by people with alleged Maoist links, following which the NIA took over the probe.
Milind Teltumbde was among the 26 Naxals who were killed in the encounter with security forces in Gadchiroli. He was carrying a reward of Rs 50 lakh on his head and authorities claimed that he was a key person who gave momentum to the naxal movement in the last 20 years and built it in Maharashtra.