Teltumbde being implicated because he criticised govt: Lawyer

The lawyer of Dalit scholar-writer Anand Teltumbde Wednesday approached the court here, seeking anticipatory bail in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.

Teltumbde has approached the Pune sessions court seeking anticipatory or pre-arrest bail after the Supreme Court refused to quash the FIR filed against him by city police.

Rohan Nahar, his lawyer, argued Wednesday before additional sessions judge Kishor Vadane that police had no concrete evidence linking Teltumbde to the Maoists.

The prosecution claims that Teltumbde's name cropped up in some of the letters seized from those already arrested in the case, and they revealed his role in promotion of Maoist ideology, handling of funds and recruitment of students for the Maoists.

Advocate Nahar told the court that Teltumbde had written two articles criticising the government, which riled some people.

The prosecution does not have any concrete evidence against him, the lawyer argued.

Police have claimed that the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017 was backed and funded by the Maoists, and inflammatory speeches made there led to violence at the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial the next day.

Alleging that Maoists planned to incite Dalits against the government, police have arrested nine persons in the case, including activist Sudha Bharadwaj and writer Varavara Rao.

The arguments will continue Thursday.