Eminent civil liberties activist and Maoist ideologue, Varavara Rao has been taken into custody by Police in Hyderabad in connection with Koregaon violence of Maharashtra, that took place in April. He has been arrested under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. He was presented in the Nampally Court, in Hyderabad, before moving him on transit warrant.
According to reports the arrest was in continuation of the investigation into a letter found in the laptop of one of the arrested Left Wing Extremists in connection with the violence. The letter allegedly has mentions about Varavara Rao in an plot to kill the Prime Minister.
Earlier, combined police teams of Maharashtra, Telangana and Chhattisgharh conducted search operations at the houses of Varavara Rao and his relatives. Raids have been conducted on 8 places of Mr Rao and his relatives at a time. The raids were also conducted on two Hyderabad based journalists and a professor, who are close relatives of Varavara Rao.
PTI quoting a police official in Pune reports that searches were also carried out at the residences of activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, lawyer Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad and HR activist Gautam Navalakha in Delhi.
