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Octogenarian poet-activist Varavara Rao, who was slapped with charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case, was released from Mumbai’s Nanavati Hospital late on Saturday, 6 March. On 22 February, Rao was granted bail for six months on medical grounds by the Bombay High Court “in view of advanced age and inadequate facilities at Taloja Jail”.
His advocate Indira Jaising shared a photograph of Rao being released on Twitter, captioning it ‘Free at last.’
The 22 February HC order stipulates several conditions for Rao’s bail, including:
At the end of the six-month period, Rao can either surrender or request an extension of the medical bail. The court declined his request to be allowed to travel to his home in Hyderabad, calling it a risk.
Rao was first arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case on 28 August 2018. The Pune Police, which was investigating the case before its abrupt transfer to the NIA over a year ago, had filed a supplementary charge sheet against Rao and some of the other accused on 21 February 2019.
One of the other accused in the case, Rona Wilson, has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court asking for an independent investigation into whether key ‘evidence’ in the case was planted on his computer, following a report by US-based digital forensic firm Arsenal Consulting.
The malware used to do this had reportedly been sent to Wilson from what appeared to be Varavara Rao’s email ID, asking him to support a solidarity statement, in June 2016.
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