The Pune Police on Saturday, 17 November, arrested prominent Telugu poet and activist Varavara Rao in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case, after his house arrest ended.
The Joint Commissioner of Pune Police said Rao had been arrested after his house arrest extension ended on Saturday.
“In addition to that, his another petition before court is also disposed of by Hyderabad court. Hence, he is arrested by Pune Police and will be produced before Pune court.”
Rao’s arrest comes after a Pune court rejected the bail plea of activists Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves, who were also accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, following which the duo was taken into police custody as the time period for their house arrest ended on 26 October.
Rao was first arrested on 28 August, along with five other prominent activists, for suspected Maoist links. The arrests were made after the Maharashtra Police raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states.
Two days after his arrest, the police had released a letter purportedly written by a Maoist leader and seized by the police in April hailing Rao for his alleged "guidance" in various Naxal activities in the country.
While officials had then refused to comment on the issue, the raids and subsequent arrests in August were reportedly part of an investigation into alleged plans of assassinating prime minister Narendra Modi, a plot that many of those raided have vehemently denied having any knowledge about.
Raids were also conducted in Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi and Goa, and prominent human rights advocate Sudha Bhardwaj and activist Gautam Navlakaha were also among those detained.
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