Elghar Parishad case: Anand Teltumbde seeks interim bail to visit mother after brother's encounter death
text_fieldsProf. Anand Teltumbde, accused in the Bhima Koregaon caste violence case, has moved a Mumbai court seeking interim bail to visit his mother and family, after the recent death of his brother, Milind Teltumbde, who was also a wanted-accused in the 2018 case.
Milind, an alleged Maoist leader was killed in an encounter by security personnel in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district along with 26 others.
Mr. Teltumbde, currently lodged at the Taloja Central Jail, sought bail for 15 days citing that he is needed at the moment of bereavement in the family.
In his application before Special NIA judge DE Kothalikar, Teltumbde said that he came to know that his second youngest brother Milind Teltumbde was killed on Nov 13 at Gadchiroli. His family and he lost contact with Milind sometime in the mid-1990s and has had no contact with him since, the activist said.
"The applicant further states that his mother is aged over 90 years and at such a moment of bereavement in the family, the applicant being the eldest in the family, not only the presence of the accused by the side of his mother and siblings would be of great moral support, but also a gathering of all family members would be a succour to each other," his plea before a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court read.
Mr. Teltumbde, 70, is a professor and was the Managing Director and CEO of Petronet India Limited. He suffers from chronic bronchitis asthma, chronic cervical spondylitis, supraspinatus tendinopathy and prostatomegaly. His medical bail was rejected by the special court on September 21 this year.
An Indian Institute of Management graduate, Mr. Teltumbde taught at the Indian Institute of Technology. He has been booked in the Elgar Parishad case for his alleged links to the banned Communist Party of India (Maoists). He has been charged with several sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
Mr. Teltumbde surrendered before the NIA office in Mumbai on April 14, 2020 after the Supreme Court denied him any relief. He was initially taken into NIA custody and is now in jail.