Arrested activist's letter spoke of "Rajiv Gandhi-like" event: Maharashtra police

Police on Friday claimed they have “conclusive proof” to link Left-wing activists arrested in June and this week to Maoists, saying one of them spoke of a “Rajiv Gandhi-type event to end Modiraj”.

An email between Rona Wilson, one of the arrested activists, and a Maoist leader, speaks of ending “Modi-raj” with a 'Rajiv Gandhi-type incident', Additional Director General (law and order) Parambir Singh told reporters here. Wilson was arrested in Delhi in June in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima violence in Maharashtra in January.

Police have seized “thousands of letters” exchanged between the overground and underground of Maoists, he said.


Pune police had on August 28 raided the homes of prominent Leftwing activists in several states and arrested five of them - Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, Sudha Bharadwaj in Faridabad and Gautam Navalakha in Delhi.

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the Elgaar Parishad conclave in Pune on December 31 last year, which allegedly triggered violence at Koregaon-Bhima in the district the next day.

The Supreme Court has ordered that the five should be kept under house arrest till September 6.

In June, Pune police had arrested Sudhir Dhawale from Mumbai, activist Rona Wilson from Delhi and lawyer Surendra Gadling, professor Shoma Sen and Adivasi rights activist Mahesh Raut from Nagpur.

“The letter written by Rona to Maoist leader ”Comrade Prakash“ said: We have received your last letter regarding current situation here. Arun (Ferreira), Vernon (Gonsalves) and others are equally concerned about the urban front struggle,” he said.

The letter also spoke of requirement of .`8 crore for supply of rifles, grenade launchers and four lakh rounds (of ammunition),“ he said. The letter asked Prakash to convey his decision, Singh said. “Comrade Kishen and a few other comrades have proposed concrete steps to end the Modi raj. We are thinking along the lines of another Rajiv Gandhi (assassination)-like incident,” Singh quoted the letter as saying.

Some of the letters exchanged between the arrested activists spoke of planning “some big action” which would attract attention, Singh said.

Delhi University professor G N Saibaba was arrested in 2014 on basis of similar evidence, including letters, he said.

With inputs from PTI