Jesuit priest and human rights activist Father Stan Swamy dies in Mumbai at 1.30 pm, at 84. Stan Swamy was arrested under the anti-terror law by the personnel of the National Investigation Agency in connection over a 2018 Elgar Parishad case and alleged links with Maoists died on Monday afternoon.
NIA
This 83 year old Jesuit priest was picked up from his house who arrived in a SUV at a building on the outskirts of Ranchi in Jharkhand. They seized his phone and asked him to pack his bag. He was then taken to an airport and then boarded a flight to Mumbai.
UAPA
Father Swamy was remanded to judicial custody until 23 October. He was jailed in Mumbai, was being treated at the Holy Family Hospital in Mumbai following a court order on May 28.
He had filed a fresh plea for bail in the High court. Stan Swamy challenged the stringent conditions for bail to an accused charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
Stan Swamy’s requests
Earlier, Stan Swamy and other accused in the case had repeatedly complained of bad health facilities in the Taloja prison.
It is said that the prison officials neglected medical aid, tests, hygiene and social distancing. Stan Swamy told the High court via video conferencing that his health consistently declined due to the conditions at the Taloja prison.
He urged the court to release him on interim bail . He also told them that if this situation continues, he ‘would die soon’. But all his requests fell on deaf ears.
People Close to Him
Stan Swamy worked for trial’s in Jharkhand for over five decades. People close to him informed that the investigating agencies raided his house twice. People know him as the soft-spoken, low profile activist.
They said that he devoted his life to uplift the tribes ever since he moved to Jharkhand in 1991. It is also alleged that the investigative agencies wanted to ‘somehow prove’ that he was linked to the ‘extremist Leftist Forces’.
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