Left-leaning students used for Maoist overground work in Delhi

Students sympathetic to the Leftist cause and labourers in unorganised sector were used by Maoists to increase their influence and for overground work in the capital, police sources said today.     Sources said Gopal Mishra and his wife Anu, who were arrested last week, were into "talent hunting" and had used the services of some "Left-leaning" students to propagate Maoist ideology in the city.     Maoists were using "sympathetic" students for "overground" party work in Delhi where they were also organising displaced labourers under its umbrella, they said.     Sources said Maoists have "some influence" among a section of "brilliant" students in Jawaharlal Nehru University and Delhi University. The ultra-Left is targeting those students who are disillusioned with the mainstream Left.     Police had earlier claimed that Mishra, a trade union leader, was the Delhi chief of proscribed CPI (Maoist) who was looking after party operations here. He was running 'Mehnathkush Mazdoor Morcha', a little known trade union.     Maoists were also organising labourers in the unorganized sector besides working in industrial areas. Mishra worked among workers in Noida Sector-IV industrial area and north-east Delhi.     Sources claimed the couple's main targets were unorganised labourers and they had managed to recruit around 25 people to party fold. However, it was not clear whether they were given party membership or were just sympathisers.     Police had seized a laptop and 10 CDs from the couple, which experts are examining.     Mishra allegedly used to conduct meetings of leaders of the party near his house at Ramnagar in east Delhi, the sources said, adding they were verifying the names of those who attended such meetings.     Mishra's wife Anu used to attend party meetings and record minutes, the sources claimed. Documents were also seized from their rented accommodation, the sources said.     Mishra, a post-graduate in psychology, was an active member of CPI (Maoist) and was tasked with organizing unorganised labourers under a trade union, they claimed.     Police sources had earlier said that during investigations into the Maoist network in the capital it came to light that the extremists were infiltrating into trade unions in the city.     They had an active trade union in Okhla Industrial area. The Maoists were also targeting displaced labourers and bringing them into their fold, they said.