Gautam Navlakha's new address in Navi Mumbai during house arrest

A nondescript library in a village in Navi Mumbai a satellite city of Mumbai is suddenly buzzing with activity as police personnel stand guard amid mounted surveillance but villagers unaware about who Gautam Navlakha is discuss in hushed tone about the powerful occupant of the groundplusonestorey structureBut this sight of policemen keeping a vigil outside the library in Agroli village in CBD Belapur is something that the villagers will have to put up with at least for a month as it is the place where the Elgar ParishadMaoist links case accused was shifted for house arrest on Saturday evening after being released from a prison following court ordersFor 70yearold Navlakha a big hall on the first floor of the Comrade B T Randive Memorial Library is his new home where he is now staying with his partner Sahba Hussain 71 The building that a team of Navi Mumbai Police is now guarding is owned by the Communist Party of India Marxist The library is on the ground floor while Navlakha and his partner are accommodated upstairsNavlakhas release from Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai after more than two years came nine days after the Supreme Court granted his plea seeking house arrest on medical groundsTalking to PTI a villager said Most of the local residents dont know who Navlakha is and for what crime he has been kept under house arrestAt least six police personnel including officers were seen at the entrance of the library building A door frame metal detector has been installed at the entrance of the first floor of the structure and police were seen using a handheld metal detector as well Besides that CCTV cameras have been installed to monitor the movements at the staircase of the first floor and a rear area of the propertyA new dish TV has been installed in the hall of the first floor where Navlakha is staying he said adding a new refrigerator was also brought for himAs Navlakhas monthlong sojourn in the village began the local residents went about their business as usual People were seen chatting at a paan stall discussingIndiaNew Zealand T20 series while some others were seen reading newspapers in premises of the library and students studying in the libraryThough Navlakha is kept under house arrest in the building the locals dont know much about him Sandesh Patil a villager saidAfter the building was finalised for Navlakhas stay teams of the Navi Mumbai Police the National Investigation Agency NIA officials had started visiting the premises for preparing the ground work two days before he was moved in But we are not aware about the exact reason why he is here he saidThis is for the first time that I saw so many police personnel and media persons in my village he saidAlso Read Gautam Navlakha released from jail taken to community hall for house arrestAfter Navlakha was brought to the building on Saturday evening a large number of police were deployed due to which there was a murmur among villagers was a terrorist has been brought he saidIt was only after news appeared in media that people came to know about his house arrest But they still dont know who he really is Patil saidPradeep Varma who runs a general store opposite the library building said he does not know who Navlakha exactly wasHe must be a powerful person as there is heavy police deployment round the clock he saidA police official posted at the site for security said Navlakha will get the facilities as per Supreme Court orderEntry inside the first floor hall is restricted and only NIA officials and Navlakhas lawyer can get access to meet him as per the court order the official saidOn day one Navlakhas partner Sahba Hussain came out of the house and purchased some vegetables like brinjal tomatoes besides some items used daily he saidThey prepared food on the first floor and had their meal he saidEach and every person who is going inside is being checked in the view of security he said adding the food items daily use objects are also being checkedNavlakhas partner can step out and go in again anytime but Navlakha can come out for a walk only for 40 minutes a day he saidIf he comes out for a walk police will escort him the official saidThe activist who claims to be suffering from multiple ailments was in jail since April 2020 after his arrest in the 201718 caseThe case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31 2017 which Pune police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon Bhima war memorial on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra cityAccording to police people linked to banned CPI Maoists had organised the programmeThe case in which over a dozen activists and academicians have been named as accused was later handed over to the NIAThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right 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