The NIA, which conducted searches in connection with the Munchingputu CPI (Maoist) conspiracy case, arrested a PKS member from Andhra Pradesh.
Published Oct 02, 2023 | 10:01 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 02, 2023 | 10:01 PM
The NIA raided 53 locations in AP and eight in Telangana. (Screengrab)
The Telangana Civil Liberties Committee (TSCLC) came down heavily on the Union, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana governments after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) carried out searches at over 60 locations in both Telugu states on Monday, 2 October.
The searches were conducted in connection with the Munchingputu CPI (Maoist) conspiracy case. The NIA arrested one person and reportedly seized a sidearm, ammunition, cash and “incriminating material”.
The arrested man has been identified as Chandra Narasimhulu, a state executive committee member of the Pragathiseela Karmika Samakya (PKS). He was picked from Andhra Pradesh’s Satya Sai district.
The conspiracy case pertained to the arrest of a journalist, Pangi Naganna, allegedly with Maoist materials from Andhra Pradesh’s Alluri Sitaramaraju district in November 2020. He was allegedly a Maoist courier.
The CPI (Maoist) was termed a terrorist organisation and banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in 2009.
The NIA searched the residences of several rights activists associated with organisations such as the Civil Liberties Committee (CLC), Amarula Bandhu Mitrula Sangham (ABMS), Chaitanya Mahila Sangham (CMS), Kula Nirmulana Porata Samathi (KNPS), Patriotic Democratic Movement (PDM), Pragathiseela Karmika Samakya (PKS), Praja Kala Mandali (PKM), Revolutionary Writers Association (RWA) or ViplavaRachaitalaSangam (VIRASAM), Human Rights Forum (HRF), Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP) and the Indian Association of Peoples Lawyers (IAPL).
“Searches were carried out at the houses of civil rights activists in Vidhyanagar, Subash Nagar, Alwal, Shadnagar, and other districts of Telangana,” TSCLC state president Professor Gaddam Laxman told South First while condemning the raids.
In Andhra Pradesh, raids were conducted at 53 locations, including Guntur, Palnadu, Vijayawada, Rajamahendravaram, Prakasam, Bapatla, Eluru, and East Godavari. In Telangana, nine locations in Hyderabad, Mahabubnagar, Hanumakonda, Ranga Reddy, and Adilabad were searched.
In Telangana, searches were conducted at the houses of Advocate Suresh Kumar (APCLC), Sagar Veeraswamy (Editor, Vasnatha Megham), Bhavani (ABMS) — all in Hyderabad — and Anitha (CMS) from Warangal.
“Eight NIA personnel reached my house around 5.30 am and checked all the electronic devices, my books and other items. They seized my phone and hard disks,” Veeraswamy, who is also associated with the Revolutionary Writers Association (RWA), told South First.
“Ironically, it’s 2 October today, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. But in Telangana, the police descended on the houses of mass leaders early in the morning,” Professor Laxman said.
Noting that the “saga of illegal arrests started in 2018” after the Bhima-Koregaon violence, he alleged that the state government was arresting the people and booking cases under the Public Security Act. “The state government is booking them under UAPA at the behest of the Union government,” he added.
Laxman viewed that the NIA was operating unconstitutionally.
“It has been enjoying the power given by the Union government and it is going around and attacking those who are working in mass organisations. The government should stop using police as a weapon against our leaders not only in Telangana but also in Andhra Pradesh, and other states. Statutory institutions are losing sanctity day by day,” he stated.
Besides arresting Narasimhulu, the NIA reportedly seized a pistol, and 14 rounds of ammunition. Cash to the tune of ₹13 lakh was seized from a location in the Kadapa district, while Maoist literature and documents were seized from other locations.
The NIA said investigations revealed that leaders and members of these frontal organisations were extending support to the CPI (Maoist).
The case was initially registered by the Munchingputu Police of the Alluri Sitaramaraju district on 23 November 2020, based on information relating to the movement of Maoists and the transportation of Maoist literature in the Munchingput area.
The police had intercepted the journalist Naganna, while he was carrying Maoist literature, medicines, red colour banner cloth, electrical wire bundles, Nippo batteries, and pamphlets, reportedly to hand over to Maoist cadres.
The frontal organisation handed over the materials to the journalist, the NIA said.
The NIA had filed a charge sheet against seven accused before a special court in Vijayawada on 21 May, 2021. Of these seven persons, five belonged to frontal organisations — ABMS, CMS, PKS, PDM and PKM.
Prof Laxman noted that activists associated with mass organisations work for the rights of people.
“We have been legally working for 50 years. We have never been branded as an illegal organisation and we have been never banned. But today, it happened due to the directions of the Union government, which is criminalising mass activities and human rights activism,” he said.
The TSCLC members addressing a press conference about the NIA raids on 2 October. (Ajay Tomar/South First)
He refuted allegations that the activists have links with the CPI (Maoist). “It is an absurd statement. It cannot be established, it cannot be proved. So far 7,000 cases have been registered against civil liberties activists in the state, but the conviction rate is only one percent, which proves that injustice is being meted out to civil leaders.”
The TSCLC demanded the Union government repeal the UAPA immediately and reestablish total freedom for working for the rights of the people in both Telugu States,
“The NIA has to be withdrawn too. Article 19 of the constitution is under attack. Freedom of expression, freedom of movement, freedom of setting up organisations all are under threat,” TSCLC general secretary N Narayana Rao told South First.
He alleged that the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments were equally responsible for slapping criminal sections on rights activists.
“The situation of democracy in the country is bad currently. Both AP and Telangana have a history of strong left organisations. The elections are also coming up in both states and the governments are trying to suppress questions on land, tribal and labour rights, and the works of political leaders. But neither the Modi government nor the KCR or Jagan governments want this,” Rao added.
Incidentally, in 2022, the Telangana police charged human rights advocate and retired University of Hyderabad Professor G Haragopal, Sudha Bhardwaj, Padmaja Shaw, V Raghunath, Gaddam Laxman, and 147 others under the UAPA for conspiring to “take over the power of the democratically elected government at gunpoint”.
The case was later dropped.
