Naxals were planning armed insurrection in AP

This was supposed to be in retaliation to encounter of woodcutters in Seshachalam forests

May 06, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 07:52 am IST - COIMBATORE:

Maoist leader R. Roopesh who was arrested in Coimbatore on Monday.— Photo: J Manoharan

Maoist leader R. Roopesh who was arrested in Coimbatore on Monday.— Photo: J Manoharan

The five Naxals, arrested here on Monday, were allegedly plotting an armed insurrection in Andhra Pradesh in retaliation for the encounter killings of 20 persons at Seshachalam hill ranges near Chittoor.

The Naxals, arrested from a bakery at Karumathampatti near Coimbatore, were accused of involvement in several incidents of violence. They were questioned here on Tuesday by ‘Q’ Branch sleuths of the Tamil Nadu Police, their counterparts from Kerala and Telangana along with the Intelligence Bureau.

Top operatives

Police sources privy to the questioning said that they were planning to instigate armed protests in 193 villages across the four southern States to protest against the alleged oppression of tribal people and downtrodden classes.

They were suspected to be top-level operatives and members of the respective State committees. They were meeting in Coimbatore to resurrect their movement and had a special committee two years ago.

They chose this city to meet as it was easily accessible from three southern States, police sources said.

One of the five persons detained, R. Roopesh alias Praveen alias Pragash (45) of Kochi, was suspected to be the top Naxal leader in south India and his arrest is seen as a major success of the intelligence agencies.

The other arrested have been identified as Roopesh’s wife R. Shyna alias Shini (42) of Kochi, Kerala; C. Kannan of Madurai, Tamil Nadu; J. Anup (31) of Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, and C. Veeramani alias Eswar (60) of Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu.

Advocates representing them said that the only items seized with them were several mobile phones, a sum of Rs.20,000 and Maoist literature. No arms were seized, they claimed.

Drama in court

There was a lot of drama in the court when the Naxals were produced.

They raised slogans alleging that the State police and the Central agencies had abducted them.

Not involved in violence

While accepting that they were Maoists, they refuted the charges of their involvement in violence and said that their movement would continue despite their arrests.

They were produced before Mahila Court Judge M.P. Subramaniam, who is in charge of the vacation court. Charges under Sections 124 (A) (Sedition) and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code along with Section 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act were invoked against the five Naxals.

According to S. Balamurugan, one of the lawyers representing the Naxals, the Judicial Magistrate turned down the Coimbatore District Police’s plea for custody, stating that their petition lacked adequate details and remanded them to judicial custody till June 3.

A scuffle took place after the police barred the media from entering the courtroom.

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