A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court, on Monday, rejected the bail application of Dr. Anand Teltumbde, a management professor at Goa Institute of Management, accused in the Elgar Parishad- Bhima Koregaon case.
The professor, who is also a Dalit scholar and civil rights activist, had made his plea based on the merits of the case in January. In his 65-page bail application, the 70-year-old had claimed that he was implicated in the case to humiliate the entire Dalit community.
He said that while the NIA mentions him as one of the convenors of the Elgar Parishad event, it has not shown any evidence. He denied being present at it.
In its response, the NIA had cited electronic evidence seized from a co-accused Rona Wilson. By this time, the Arsenal Consulting report released by a US-based digital forensics firm had found incriminating evidence on Wilson’s computer was ‘planted’ through a cyber attack. At least 10 incriminating letters were planted on his computer in the 22 months, the report said. The agency alleged that the professor under the guise of academic visits used to procure literature on Maoist ideology during international conferences that were then used for training of members of the banned CPI (Maoist).
Countering his claim in his bail plea, the NIA had said that his mobile location showed that he visited the venue between 10am and 12.30pm.
Last year, his bail plea, which was filed on the grounds that the chargesheet was not filed within the stipulated time, had been rejected by the court.
The NIA has claimed in its chargesheet filed against Teltumbde in October last year that he was inspired by his brother Milind Teltumbde, who the agency calls a top operative of the CPI(Maoist) and has shown as an absconding accused in the case. It claimed witnesses had stated that he visited various cities where he would meet his brother Milind and take guidance to advance the movement in urban as well as rural areas.
