The National Investigation Agency has alleged that the accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case recruited students from well-known institutes like Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences for commission of terrorist activity.
The central agency has made the claim in its draft charges submitted before a special court in Mumbai.
The NIA submitted the draft charges, naming 15 accused, earlier this month and a copy of the document was made available on Monday.
“In furtherance of the conspiracy, the accused persons, being active members of banned terrorist organisation Communist Party of India-Maoists and its frontal organisations, recruited students from various universities, including the Jawaharlal Nehru University as well as the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (whose main campus is in Mumbai) for commission of terrorist activity,” the draft said.
The accused persons held training camps at various regions to recruit cadres at all levels for commission of terrorist activities of the CPI-Maoist, the anti-terror agency said.
The draft lays down 17 offences against the 15 accused, including human rights and civil liberties activists, and they have been sought to be charged under various sections of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code.
The draft charges alleged that the accused persons were active members of the CPI-Maoist and arranged and managed meetings for the purpose of encouraging support for the banned terror outfit to further its activities.
The accused persons also sought and collected funds for the purposes of terrorism, the NIA alleged.
“(They were involved in) organising, collecting and participating in providing funds through the banned terrorist organisation in order to cover the expenses of rebellious activities, and coordinated the Bhima Koregaon
programme (held in Pune) with underground Naxalites and exploited the communal sentiments of Dalit and other minority forces and individuals across the state and provoked them in the name of caste in order to create instability and chaos in Maharashtra,” the draft said.
It further claimed the accused conspired to demand and organise funds for annual supply of sophisticated weapons like the M4 carbine and other arms and ammunition through a designated supplier in Nepal.
The special NIA court is yet to frame the charges in the case. The court had earlier said it would first dispose of all applications filed by the accused persons before hearing them on the charges.
Special NIA Judge D E Kothalikar on Monday rejected the temporary bail pleas filed by two of the accused -- Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde.
The accused persons in the case include activists and academicians like Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves, Navlakha, Teltumbde, Varavara Rao, Hany Babu and Shoma Sen.
The Elgar Parishad case is related to alleged inflammatory speeches made at a conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which, the police claimed, triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city.
The prosecution claimed the conclave was organised by people with alleged Maoist links. The case was initially probed by the Pune police and later transferred to the NIA by the Centre.
