Activists arrested in multi-city raids by Pune Police, saffron critics condemn nationwide

Five activists with alleged Maoist links were arrested on Tuesday in multi-city raids by Pune police while several others were searched, said reports.

Late night reports said activist Sudha Bharadwaj, who was arrested from her residence in Faridabad, is being taken to Pune even as her lawyers alleged that the move is against the orders of Punjab and Haryana High Court, which they claimed put a stay order on her transit remand.

The raids and arrests were made by the Pune police in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence in January involving the Dalits who live in Bhima Koregaon, about 40 kms from Pune city and had clashed with upper-caste Marathas.

Police said the inflammatory speeches made at the Elgaar Parishad on the eve of the bicentennial celebration of the battle of Bhima Koregaon, had led to the violence in and around Pune. The Elgaar Parishad was organised to commemorate the battle of Bhima Koregaon on January 1, 1818 in which a British army comprising a large number of Dalit soldiers had defeated the Peshwas. 

The raids on Tuesday were carried out in several cities like Delhi, Faridabad, Goa, Mumbai, Ranchi, and Hyderabad.

The arrested activists are Varavara Rao, lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, activists Arun Fereira, Gautam Navlakha and Vernon Gonsalves, said reports.

According to reports,  Vernon Gonsalves was arrested in Mumbai, Gautam Navlakha in Delhi, Sudha Bharadwaj in Haryana, and poet and Maoist ideologue P Varavara Rao in Hyderabad.

Media reports earlier said Rao was arrested in connection with an alleged conspiracy to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"The Pune police sought our assistance. We sent some women police constables to assist in the searches,” Hyderabad Central zone DCP Vishwa Prasad told The Hindu.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday blasted the ruling BJP over the arrests of several activists with alleged Maoist links across the nation in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence.

"There is only place for one NGO in India and it's called the RSS. Shut down all other NGOs. Jail all activists and shoot those that complain," Rahul Gandhi tweeted after the arrests which were also earlier linked to an alleged plot to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Welcome to the new India. #BhimaKoregaon," he tweeted.

CPI-M's Sitaram Yechury tweeted, 'Ever since the Bhima Koregoan violence against Dalits, the Maharashtra Police along with central agencies have been targeting dalit rights activists and lawyers who have been taking up their cases. This is a brazen attack on democratic rights & civil liberties.'

Activist Prashant Bhusan tweeted, 'I understand from Sudha Bharadwaj's lawyer Vrinda Grover, that despite the order of the Punjab& Haryana High Court staying Sudha Bhardwaj's transit remand, the Mah police is still insisting on it in the Magistrate's court in Faridabad&even her lawyers are not being allowed there!

Left activist Kavita Krishnan tweeted; 'Under the Modi regime's undeclared Emergency, rights activists and dissenters are either shot at, killed, or raided, arrested and jailed. The  arrests of Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Vernon Gonsalves, Varavara Rao follow on the heels of the murderous attack on Umar Khalid.'