Picture : Rediff.com
In a major crackdown by the Maharashtra police probing the Bhima – Koregaon case , as many as 5 left wing activists were arrested after raids in several cities states with suspected maoist links . The prominent activists detained are – Telugu poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Farreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bharadwaj in Faridabad and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in New Delhi.
According to various media reports , two letters, purportedly exchanged by Maoist leaders, indicated plans to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and Home Minister Rajnath Singh, lead to the police action , security officials said.
While the 2016 letter suggested that there were deliberations among the Naxals to kill Modi, Shah and Singh, the 2017 letter referred to a plan to carry out a Rajiv Gandhi assassination-type attack on the Prime Minister during one of his roadshows, they claimed.
The second letter was addressed to one “Comrade Prakash” and was found from the residence of a Delhi-based activist, Rona Wilson, on June 6, according to a security official privy to the development.
Along with Wilson, four others were also arrested during raids in June by police in different parts of the country in connection with the matter.
The letters were reportedly recovered after the anti-Naxal operations in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli, in which 39 Maoists were killed, in April.
The 2017 letter also referred about “senior comrades” suggesting “concrete steps” to end the NDA dispensation and about raising several crore of rupees to buy American M-4 rifles and some ammunition, the official said.
Today’s police action started at 6 am and was carried out simultaneously by Maharashtra Police, led by Joint Commissioner of Pune, Ravindra Kadam, in Ranchi, Goa, Delhi and Hyderabad.
