Teltumbde visited US, Canada, Pak for furtherance of Maoist activities at international level, says NIA
MUMBAI: Activist Anand Teltumbde, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, used to visit countries like Canada, Pakistan and the USA to further the activities of CPI (Maoist) at the international level, the NIA told a special court here on Wednesday.
The probe agency reiterated that Teltumbde (accused number 10) is a senior member of the CPI (Maoist) and working in urban areas, and claimed that there was evidence about the allocation of Rs 10 lakh by the CPI (Maoist) to him for his international campaign and visits for the furtherance of its agenda.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) made these claims in its written reply to the discharge plea filed by the activist before the special court judge D E Kothalikar.
In his plea filed through his lawyers Sathyanarayanan and Neeraj Yadav, Teltumbde has claimed that the probe agency has not produced any material to show that he is a member of CPI (Maoist) or his alleged role in the Elgar-Parishad case.
Teltumbde (70) was arrested in April 2020 for his alleged links to the Elgar Parishad case and has been lodged in Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai.
In its reply, the NIA said, "In order to further the activities of CPI (Maoist) on an international level, he used to attend international conferences under the guise of his visits to Canada, Pakistan, USA, France, etc."
In these conferences, he used to exchange literature on ideology, training and working strategy of CPI (Maoist) with international communist organisations, it said.
The probe agency further said that the accused used to meet his brother Milind Telmambde during his urban area visits and share the literature of Maoist ideology collected during international conferences.
The Maoist literature/videos were used for training and strategic development of party members after approval in Central Committee (CC) members meeting in the Abujmaad area, the NIA added.
Rebutting a claim of Anand Teltumbde, the agency said that investigation has revealed that the role of the accused (Teltumbde) in connection with the Bhima Koregaon programme was appreciated by the Central Committee of CPI (Maoist) and there is evidence on record that a direction was given to him to "keep the fire ablaze".
"There are evidences on record about the allocation of Rs 10 lakh from the end of CPI (Maoist) to Anand for his international campaign and visits for the furtherance of the CPI (Maoist) agenda," the central probe agency said.
The NIA further said its investigation has revealed that accused Anand Teltumbde is a senior member of the CPI (Maoist) and working in urban areas.
He was in contact with arrested accused Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Shoma Sen, Varavara Rao, Gautam Navlakha, Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Ferriera, Vernon Gonsalves, Stan Swamy (deceased), Hany Babu and members of the CPI (Maoist). He was the general secretary of CPDR and a member of 'Anuradha Ghandy Memorial Committee' (AGMC).
The probe agency said that evidence collected during the investigation revealed that Teltumbde was one of the conveners of Elgar Parishad and Bhima Koregaon Shauryadin Prerna Abhiyan programme and was present at Shaniwar Wada in Pune when the Parishad was held on December 31, 2017.
The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches delivered at the 'Elgar Parishad' conclave, held at Shaniwarwada in Pune on December 31, 2017, which the police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the city's outskirts.
Teltumbde was arrested in April 2020 for his alleged links to the Elgar Parishad case and has been lodged in Taloja jail
RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Wednesday kicked off his constituency-wise public interaction drive from the state's tribal-dominated Balrampur district and interacted with villagers to evaluate the status of his government's schemes.
On receiving a complaint from an elderly woman during the drive regarding a ration card, Baghel immediately ordered the suspension of the chief municipal officer (CMO) of Kusmi Nagar Panchayat there for alleged negligence.
The chief minister accompanied by the state's Urban Administration Minister Shivkumar Dahariya left from Raipur at around 11.15 am in a helicopter and reached Kusmi Nagar Panchayat in Samri Assembly constituency on the first day of campaign titled, 'Bhent Mulaqat Abhiyaan', a government official here said.
The constituency is located over 400 km away from capital Raipur in Surguja division.
On learning about his arrival, people, particularly children and youth, gathered out of curiosity to see the helicopter and the chief minister and also to raise their grievances.
After landing in Kusmi, Baghel directly went to the local police station and performed rituals at Shri Ram Janki Temple there, after which he interacted with the police personnel and their families, the official said.
The chief minister visited a fair price shop, where during interaction with beneficiaries, he came to know from a local villager that her name was excluded from the Below Poverty Line (BPL) list and she does not have a ration card, he said.
Taking serious cognisance of the complaint, Baghel instructed the district collector to suspend the CMO of Kusmi Nagar Panchayat, he said.
Baghel said that strict action will be taken against officials for negligence in work despite being repeatedly instructed and issued a warning.
As per the chief minister's instructions, the urban administration and development department immediately issued the suspension order for CMO S K Dubey, he added.
During his visit, Baghel was seen walking along with children on the streets of Kusmi, where he also held chaupal to interact with locals, and he also visited the nagar panchayat office and the government-run Swami Atmanand English Medium School there.