Bombay HC grants bail to two activists in Elgar Parishad case
Mumbai (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Friday granted bail to activists Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor, accused in the Elgar Parishad Maoist links case, on the grounds of parity, noting that other accused have been granted similar relief.
Gorkhe and Gaichor were arrested in September 2020 and are presently lodged at the Taloja prison.
The duo is accused of being active members of the banned CPI (Maoist) group.
A bench, headed by Justice A S Gadkari, noted that several other accused in the case have been granted bail on the grounds of long incarceration and the possibility of the trial in the case not commencing in the near future.
"Hence on the ground of parity, the two appellants (Gorkhe and Gaichor) too deserve to be released on bail," it said.
The duo has been directed to furnish a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh each and to attend the National Investigation Agency's office once a month.
At least 16 people, including prominent lawyers, activists, and academics, were booked in connection with allegedly provocative speeches that were delivered at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017.
According to the police, the speeches triggered violence at Koregaon-Bhima, on the outskirts of Pune city, the next day.
The Pune police, which initially probed the case, claimed that Maoists had backed the conclave. The NIA later took over the probe into the case.
All except one accused, Surendra Gadling, have now been granted bail in the case.
Father Stan Swamy, an 84-year-old priest and tribal rights activist, died while in custody in July 2021, awaiting trial.
The other accused in the case include Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Anand Teltumbde, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Shoma Sen, Gautam Navlakha, Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Jyoti Jagtao and Mahesh Raut.
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Fired from family business, nephew breaks into uncle's shops in Delhi; arrested
New Delhi (PTI): Delhi Police has arrested a 22-year-old man who allegedly stole cash, a laptop and a mobile phone from his uncle's shop in Dwarka to take revenge after he was fired from the family business, officials said on Wednesday.
Piyush Tulswani, the accused, completed his Class 11 from Rajasthan's Pilani, after which he came back to live with his family, a senior police officer said.
His father, Kishan Tulswani, used to work as a sales manager at his uncle Jeetu's confectionery shops. After the death of his father, Piyush took up his position, the officer said.
Soon, Piyush started embezzling money from the shops, and was fired after Jeetu took note of the act, police said.
His mother also reprimanded him for embezzling money, after which Piyush left home and started living with his friend, the officer said.
Piyush hatched a plot to steal money from his uncle’s shops, which he knew well. Acting on his plan, he took his brother's scooter and broke open each shop, stealing cash, a laptop and a mobile phone.
On January 31, Jeetu reported the matter to police, accusing Piyush of committing burglaries at his shops located in Sector-18, Sector-11, Sector-12 and Sector-4, Dwarka, the officer said.
Jeetu also provided CCTV camera footage from the shops, in which Piyush could be seen breaking them open, he said.
Tracing his mobile phone locations to Safdarjang, Hauz Khas, Rajapuri and Dabri, police conducted several raids.
“He later switched off his phone to restrict access to his location,” the officer said.
On February 13, police received information that Piyush would come to the fruit mandi in Dabri around 9.30 am. Accordingly, a trap was laid, leading to the arrest of the accused, he said.
Initially, he did not confess to the crime, but when police showed him the CCTV clips, he admitted to committing the burglaries, the officer said.
