The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on the morning of Thursday, 8 February, conducted raids at the house of journalist and editor of 'Veekshanam' magazine N Venugopal in Hyderabad's Himayatnagar.
Venugopal is the nephew of renowned Telugu poet Varavara Rao – who is among the 15 persons charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the Bhima Koregaon case in 2018.
As per reports, the raids – which went on for about four hours – were in connection with Venugopal having alleged links to Sanjoy Deepak Rao, a purported leader of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist who was arrested by the Telangana Police in September 2023.
Searches were also carried out at other locations in Hyderabad on Thursday, including the residence of activist Ravi Sharma at LB Nagar.
As per The New Indian Express, Venugopal said that "a team of eight members came at 5 am and revealed their search warrant when I let them inside."
He added that the NIA searched through his collection of books, which included research material, journals, letters etc.
"The NIA raided my house in connection with the case related to Sanjoy Deepak Rao. I was identified as A-22 in the case. Despite my objections citing a similar ongoing court case where phone confiscation was challenged, the NIA team seized my phone in the raid," he said, as per the publication.
In September 2023, officials from the Telangana Intelligence Department of the Cyberabad Police arrested Sanjoy Deepak Rao near the Malaysian Township in Hyderabad's Kukatpally. He was wanted in multiple cases.
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