‘Urban Naxals’ were arrested on highly incriminating evidence: Police

The five Urban Naxals arrested by Pune Police on Aug 28

In an official release issued here on Wednesday August 29, the Police said that after the initial registration of the crime at Vishrambaug Police Station (CR No. 04/2018 u/s 153 (A), 505(1)(b), 120B, 34 IPC with u/s 13, 16, 17, 18, 18(b), 20, 38, 39, 40 UAPA) registered on January 8, 2018, they conducted a thorough investigation which lead to highly incriminating evidence including emails, letters, minutes, resolutions of the meetings and other elaborate communication between the members of the banned CPI (Maoist) party and those arrested accused.

The police further said that the evidence found traced back the involvement of Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) and the arrested accused in mobilization of funds provided by the banned CPI (Maoist) in inciting the masses against the administration from long before the Elgar Parishad was held.

The analysis if the seized documents from electronic devices clearly revealed the conspiracy hatched by the banned CPI (Maoist) organisation to form the all India United Front (as per the strategy and tactics of the CPI (Maoist party) i.e. the anti-fascist front (according to the resolutions of ERB i.e. Eastern Regional Bureau which is UG formation) in order to overthrow the government established by the law. In pursuance of this conspiracy efforts were made to establish such front in Maharashtra through Elgar Parishad organised on December 31, 2017.

The police further said that the evidence also involved other details like provision of funds, responsibilities given to these Urban Naxals in radicalizing the youth and students, provision of arms and other details trailing back from the senior comrades of the Central Committee of CPI (Maoist).

The police claimed that the accused were ‘actively and deliberately’ involved in the unlawful activities which lead to violence and killings of large number of security personnel and innocent civilians. Some of the evidence collected by the police revealed a nexus with other unlawful organizations which spread the violence.

They have shown intolerance to the present political system and decided to target organizations, functionaries and they even were thinking of targeting highest political functionary, the cops maintained.

Police conducted simultaneous raids at Mumbai, Thane, Faridabad, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Ranchi on August 28, 2018 and seized hard disks, laptops, pend rives, memory cards, mobile phones, sim cards and incriminating documents from these places.

On the basis of this strong and convincing evidence the Pune police arrested P Vara Vara Rao, Poet and Critic from Hyderabad, Arun Ferreira, Lawyer and Activist from Thane, Vernon Gonsalves, Lawyer from Mumbai, Sudha Bharadwaj, Lawyer and Civil Rights Activist from Faridabad, and Gautam Navlakha, Journalist, and Human Rights Campaigner from New Delhi. All of them are now placed under house arrest as per the directions of the Supreme Court till September 6.