Arrested activists helped Maoists in procuring arms, recruiting youth to 'wage war against country': Pune cops in court

Before the Supreme Court's directions about sending the three activists arrested for alleged Maoist links back to their homes came to the Pune court, the police told the local court that it had strong evidence to suggest that the arrested persons were 'waging a war against the country'. 

Submitting at least eight letters to the Pune court, the public prosecutor Ujjwala Pawar stated that some letters have a mention that poet Varavara Rao - who was arrested from Hyderabad on Tuesday - has not only raised funds for Maoist activities but he had played an active role in procuring firearms for the left-wing extremists. 

Pawar also told the court that along with Rao, the names of other two accused - Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira who were arrested from Mumbai and Thane respectively-  also cropped up in some of the letters which mention of recruiting youth from reputed institutes like Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).

Rao, Gonsalves and Ferreira were brought to Pune by the police today after they were arrested from their respective cities on Tuesday. When they were produced before the court, Pune police submitted some letters which they claimed were seized from the other five persons arrested in June this year. 

Giving out the details of these letters in the court, Pawar said, "The banned organisation CPI (Maoists) has come with Anti-Fascist Front to carry out activities against the government. Some of the letters seized earlier mentions that the front has the objective to spread its ideology among youth through various activities and attract the youth to join the organisation. Last year's Elgaar Parishad held in Pune was a part of such activity which was supported by these arrested persons."

Pawar also told the court that some of the seized letters have clear mentions of their anti-national activities. "One of the letters mentions of procuring firearms worth Rs 8 crore from 'designated persons' sitting in Nepal and Rao had been given the role to speak to the Maoists active in Manipur state to facilitate the import of the weapons into the country," Pawar said. 

She also told the court that some of the letters also show their connections with other banned outfits which are operating in different parts of the country, including some organisations in Jammu and Kashmir. 

Mentioning their roles in recruitment of youth in Maoist movement, Pawar said, "One of the letters mentioning the name of Arun Ferreira states that they are looking to recruit young working professionals for the Maoists activities and they are targeting the professionals from institutes like TISS."

The defence counsel argued that the sections slapped under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act are not applicable against the three arrested persons. The defence counsel also argued that the police have also seized the documents and other materials from their residences, hence their police custody was not required.

Soon after the argument, the Supreme Court's direction to send the arrested persons back to their residences came and the district and Sessions judge KD Vadhane directed the police to take them back to their respective residences for house arrest till September 6.