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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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
