Bombay HC directs Maha govt to not arrest activist Anand Teltumbde

The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the Maharashtra government to not arrest civil rights activist Anand Teltumbde, till October 26, in connection with the case registered against him for alleged Maoist links.

Teltumbde had moved the Bombay High Court earlier this month requesting to quash the case filed against him, arguing that he is falsely implicated in it.

On August 28, the Pune Police had raided the homes of several civil rights activists, including Teltumbde's residence in Goa and claimed to have found documents which established his links with Maoists. The raids were conducted in connection with Bhima-Koregaon violence that erupted in Pune in January this year during an event organised to mark 200 years of the Bhima Koregaon battle.

Following the raid, the police also detained five activists Vara Vara Rao, Sudha Bhardwaj, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, and Gautam Navlakha and put them under house arrest for their alleged involvement in the violence that claimed life of one person and injured many, including 10 policemen.

The Maharashtra government, in an affidavit to the Supreme Court, had earlier alleged that the activists were "members of banned terrorist organisation Communist Party of India (Maoist).