The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has alleged that students from the renowned institutes – Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) – were recruited for “terror activities” in India.
The shocking allegations came after the top investigation agency filed a 15-page draft charge sheet before the Special NIA Court in Mumbai, in the Elgar Parish-Maoist link case. The charge sheet claimed that the students were recruited by the accused, who wanted to “wage war against the central and Maharashtra governments”.
The NIA named at least 22 people as accused in its charge sheet, claiming that all the members were associated with the Communist Party of India (Maoist). The political outfit is a banned organisation in India under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act since 2009.
The NIA has claimed that all the accused members were in touch with the Maoist military organisation and were regularly holding meetings with them to carry out unlawful activities in the country. Reportedly, they were to also form their own government – Jantana Sarkar (People’s Government), with the support of radical armed groups following a planned revolution and seizure of power from the State.
The NIA said in the charge sheet that the accused threatened the country’s security, sovereignity and integrity by plotting against “government or civil authorities/public functionaries”.
According to the NIA, the accused arrested in the Elgar Parish-Maoist case, linked to the Bhima Koregaon violence, were involved in arranging Rs 8 crores for supplying M4 weapons and 4 lakh rounds to the CPI (Maoist) in Manipur and Nepal.
On Monday, the Special NIA Court also rejected the interim bail pleas of journalist-activist Gautam Navlakha and Professor Anand Teltumbde. The court said that both Navlakha and Teltumbde had failed to produce their medical certificates in the view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The court has not framed charges against the accused in the case. It had earlier said that it would dispose of all the applications filed by the accused persons before hearing the charges. The NIA stated that it will not bring charges until August 25.
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Who Are The Accused In The NIA’s Charge Sheet?
Apart from Navlakha and Teltumbde, the list of accused individuals comprises well-known lawyer-activists Sudha Bhardwaj, Rona J. Wilson, P. Varvara Rao, Professor Shoma Sen, Heny Baby, Sagar Gorkhe, activists Arun Ferriera, Vernon Gonsalves, Jyoti Jagtap, Mahesh Raut, Sudhir Dhawale, Surendra Gadling, Milind Teltumbde, and the 83-year-old late tribal activist Father Stan Swamy who died in police custody last month.
