He was dubbed a Maoist, put behind bars, but released a year ago, pending police inquiry. Kozhikode-based cultural activist and freelance journalist Nadeer now finds himself in another quandary as his photo and name have appeared in police lookout circulars in Kannur district.
“I was taken into police custody on December 19 last year, based on a case registered by the Aralam police. The case is before the High Court, which recently asked the police to expedite the investigation without harassing me. Some of these posters were sighted around the same time,” he told The Hindu on Wednesday.
Mr. Nadeer asks how a person active in the cultural field in the city could be accused of being in hiding. “I lost a job in Qatar after I was labelled a Maoist sympathiser. I have a postgraduate degree in journalism and mass communication, but no media organisation is hiring me now because of the police inquiry. I am doing freelance journalism and working for a publication firm,” he said. He claimed the probe against him could not be completed because one witness stuck to her statement that one of the six suspected Maoists who had visited Aralam farm last year resembled him.
He said the police blamed technical glitches. “Around two weeks ago, the poster was found outside the Kelakam police station. I thought they must be the old ones. But I got another call from Peravoor this week saying the police had put up a poster there too,” he said. Senior police officers claimed posters of people who were in hiding after being charged under the UAPA had been put up in all police stations under the jurisdiction of the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Iritty. Police officers in Iritty said the case was being investigated by a special squad and the local police had no role in it. They said they did not know about the posters, claiming they must have been put up earlier.
