Rights Activist Gautam Navlakha Sent in Judicial Custody till June 22 by Mumbai NIA Court

New Delhi: A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai on Tuesday sent civil rights activist Gautam Navlakha in judicial custody till June 22.

Navlakha, along with scholar and activist Anand Teltumbde, surrendered to the NIA court last month in a case filed by the Pune Police alleging Maoist links and involvement in the Bhima-Koregaon violence in January 2018.

Navlakha, who had surrendered in Delhi, was taken to Mumbai by the NIA on Tuesday. He would be lodged at Taloja jail near Mumbai.

According to a social media post by sources close to Navlakha, his application for impending bail was slated to be heard on Wednesday, May 27, before the Delhi High Court. However, he “was whisked off to Bombay without a word to his family or lawyers, and indeed without an opportunity to protest this act in unholy haste,” says the post

Navlakha and several other civil liberties activists have been booked under stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The social media post by sources close to Navlakha (not independently authenticated by Newsclick)also said that though the civil rights activit was produced on May 23, through video conferencing before the ASJ Delhi, “not a whisper was made of the impending transfer.”

“In fact the NIAsought an extension of judicial custody in Delhi until 22nd June,” said the post, adding that the 68-year old activist was given five minutes in Tihar Jail to pack his belongings and was taken by train. The post said Navlakha was a patient of “colonic polyposis, chronic gastritis and high blood pressure” has been sent to Taloja jail where cases of COVID have been reported and even a death has occurred.

The post claimed that all this information had come from Navlakha himself, who was allowed by the court where he was produced to call his partner in Delhi.