Anand Teltumbde 'active member' of CPI (Maoist): NIA

Scholar-activist Anand Teltumbde, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, is an 'active member' of the Communist Party of India-Maoist and 'deeply involved' in furtherance of the outfit's agenda, the National Investigatoin Agency (NIA) has told a special court in Mumbai.

The NIA, which is conducting a probe into the case, made these submissions on February 26 in its written reply to the activist's bail plea.

A copy of the reply was made available on Tuesday.

In January this year, Teltumbde filed the bail plea in the special NIA court, claiming no evidence was found against him and the prosecution theory that he was abetting others to wage war against the government was all 'humbug'.

Opposing his bail, the probe agency said it is 'absolutely false' to say there is no evidence against the accused.

'In fact, there is evidence against the accused that he is an active member of CPI-Maoist and deeply involved in furtherance of the agenda of CPI-Maoist,' the NIA said in its submission.

Further, it is evident from the statement of a protected witness that the accused used to attend international conferences and bring their foreign Maoist literature in memory card, and the same was further used for training purpose after approval from central committee of the CPI-Maoist, the probe agency said.

It also claimed that Anand Teltumbde was in touch with his brother Milind Teltumbde, a wanted accused in the case, and had secret meeting with him.

'Anand Teltumbde used to meet his brother during his urban area visits and used to share the literature of Maoist ideology collected during international conferences,' it said.

The Maoist literature/videos were used for training and strategic development of party members after approval in the (outfit's) central committee members' meeting in Abhujmad area (of Chhattisgarh), the NIA said.

It also claimed that electronic evidences recovered from other accused show he was in touch with them.

Anand Teltumbde and several other activists have been booked under stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), for allegedly having links with Maoists and conspiring to overthrow the government.

He has sought bail on merits of the case.

The accused in his bail plea said he hails from a poor family and due to his sheer brilliance and hard work, he reached the position he has in the Indian society.

However, casteist forces cannot digest this fact and implicating him in the case is an attempt to belittle his achievements, the accused said.

Anand Teltumbde and some other activists were initially booked by the Pune police after violence erupted near Koregaon-Bhima, on outskirts of Pune city, a day after an Elgar Parishad conclave was organised.

Inflammatory speeches and provocative statements made at the Elgar Parishad meet held in Pune on December 31, 2017, triggered the violence at Koregaon-Bhima the next day, the police had alleged.

According to the police, the event was 'backed' by Maoists.

The NIA later took over the probe into the case.