An Associate Professor of Telugu of Andhra University J. Appa Rao, who was arrested by the police along with three others on the charge of arranging supply of explosives to the Maoists, enjoys a lot of respect and affection from his students and colleagues.
Coming from a humble background from Korrpalli village in G. Madugula mandal of the district, he did his M.A. and Ph.D. at Central University, Hyderabad. He worked at the Government College at Chintapalli before joining the AU in 2006.
Till now, under his guidance, 50 students secured JRF and several others government jobs. Prof. Appa Rao (48) could put forth the Girijans’ arguments very well and his speeches were inspiring. Like many Girijans, he opposed the government’s proposal to undertake bauxite mining in the Agency, his students and friends recalled.
Those who gathered in front of the SP’s Office objected to the way he was whisked away from his quarter on the AU campus in the dead of the night and not being allowed to meet his wife Mynavathi and children.
Ms. Mynavathi said that around 1 a.m. 10 persons barged into their house and took away her husband and when she demanded that they reveal who they were, they said they were policemen. “They told me that my husband would be sent back very soon after asking him a few questions but he did not return,” she said. Mobile phones of her husband, his brother and three students were taken away. She lodged a complaint with the III Town police and after some time the police announced that Prof. Appa Rao was arrested.
Later she was asked to come to the SP’s office to meet her husband but the Additional SP (crime) told her to give a letter.
