Activists raided across country for ‘Maoist links’
FIVE ARRESTED Action linked to police probe into Bhima Koregaon violence PUNE:
Pune police raided the residences of prominent lawyers and activists across five states on Tuesday and arrested at least five people for alleged Maoist links.
Lawyer and trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj, poet P Varavara Rao, activist Gautam Navlakha, and lawyers Arun Pereira and Vernon Gonsalves were arrested and charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including criminal conspiracy, creating fear and enmity between various groups, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The arrests were part of an investigation into the violence that rocked Bhima Koregaon in Maharashtra on January 1 during the bicentennial celebration of a British-era war.
The near-simultaneous police raids began at the crack of dawn in Hyderabad, Delhi, Faridabad, Mumbai, Thane and Ranchi, and continued till afternoon. Police said the operation was part of a probe into an event called Elgar Parishad on December 31, 2017, when various activists and Dalit organisations came together to celebrate the 200th anniversary of a war between the British army, manned mainly by Dalits, and the then Peshwa rulers, who were notorious for oppressive caste practices.
Violence broke out at Bhima Koregaon, about 40 km from Pune, the next day as tens of thousands of Dalits gathered around a victory pillar. The widespread stone pelting left one person dead and four injured. Protests swept Maharashtra over the next two days, bringing capital Mumbai to a virtual standstill. “We have arrested five persons today for their association with the Maoist movement and support to Elgar Parishad, which triggered violence the next day,” said Pune JCP Shivaji Bodkhe.
Late in the evening, the Delhi high court ordered police not to take Navlakha out of the Capital at least until Wednesday. The high court was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Navalakha by his advocate Warisha Farasat after he was picked up from his Delhi home this afternoon. One team also searched the residence of Father Stan Swamy in Ranchi although Swamy was not arrested in the absence of “evidence,” a senior official said.
According to the police, the names of those arrested cropped up during the interrogation of five persons arrested in June for Maoist links. These five were Sudhir Dhawale, a Republican Panthers activist; Surendra Gadling, a prominent lawyer; Rona Wilson, an activist; Mahesh Raut, a former Prime Minister Rural Development fellow, and Soma Sen, a retired Nagpur University professor. They were arrested for allegedly having close Maoist links.
They were being brought to Pune to be produced in the court on Tuesday, said Bodke.
The arrests were condemned by several activists. “The arrests are a dangerous sign of a government that fears it is losing its mandate,” author Arundhati Roy told PTI.