The Pune Police had, on June 6 last year, arrested five activists and lawyers from Mumbai, New Delhi and Nagpur. (File photo)WHILE ANAND Teltumbde has managed to get relief from the courts, many of the other high-profile accused in the Elgaar Parishad case have not been so lucky. Four of the six other activists, who were raided by Pune Police along with Teltumbde in a multicity operation on August 28 last year, have already spent several months in jail.
Chhattisgarh-based Sudha Bhardwaj, and Mumbai-based Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira were arrested by Pune Police on October 26 last year, after the initial attempt to arrest them on August 28 had been nullified by courts. Activist P Varavara Rao, who lives in Hyderabad, was arrested on November 17. All of them are currently lodged in the Yerawada jail. Their bail application is pending.
The Pune Police had, on June 6 last year, arrested five activists and lawyers from Mumbai, New Delhi and Nagpur. These included professor Shoma Sen, lawyer Surendra Gadling and activist Rona Wilson. They have been in in jail since then.
New Delhi-based Gautam Navalakha, who was among the seven searched on August 28 last year, has so far escaped arrest, having managed to obtain reliefs from the courts. His current period of protection from arrest, granted by the Bombay High Court, continues till February 18. Stan Swamy from Ranchi, who was searched on August 28 last year, is the only one who the Pune Police has not attempted to arrest till now.
On November 15 last year, the Pune Police had filed a 5,160-page chargesheet against 10 accused, including the five arrested in June. The others named in the chargesheet included Milind Teltumbde, younger brother of Anand. On November 26 last year, the police sought, and received, a 90-day extension in time for filing chargesheet against Bhardwaj, Rao, Ferreira and Gonsalves. The period ends on February 24.
