A team of Pune police searched the residence of Delhi University’s Associate Professor Hany Babu M.T. in Noida’s Sector 78 at 6.30 a.m. on Tuesday allegedly without a warrant.
Mr. Babu told The Hindu that the officers were particularly interested in his books and seized four of them, all of which were related to “Maoist and Left ideology”.
“They saw all the books, which were on varied subjects like terrorism, Kashmir, Dalit issues and more. They would take a look and put them back. But if they found any book related to Maoist and Left ideology, they kept it aside,” he said.
Recalling the morning, the professor said around 20 officers, including eight-ten from Pune Police and the rest local officers, came to his residence and said they wanted to conduct a search in connection with the Elgar Parishad case registered in Pune’s Vishrambaug police station in 2017. When Mr. Babu asked for a search warrant, the police allegedly told him that it was not required.
Passwords changed
The professor said the officers told him that he was, so far, only a suspect and so they were not arresting him. “During the search, they took my laptop, hard disks, pen drives and mobile phone. The laptop and hard disks contain my research work, which I have been doing for years. I don’t understand how the government agency can seize my work without telling me the reasons behind it,” he said.
He added that the passwords of his email IDs and mobile phones were changed and he was told that he cannot access them till the investigation is over.
Out of the four books the police took, two were published by the defense committee in DU professor G.N. Saibaba case, he said. Saibaba was convicted on charges of having Maoist links.
“They took Jawaharlal Nehru University Scholar Naveen Babu’s MPhil dissertation titled ‘Varna to Jati’ and another book titled ‘Understanding Maoists’ by N. Venugopal,” he said.
“I have so many books on human rights as I participate in such movements. I asked them if they were trying to project that I am supporting Maoist ideology by taking the books. They said I should not ask anything and that they will take whatever is required for the probe,” he said.
Mr. Babu said it’s a larger scheme to intimidate activists and people who speak up for rights.
No contact allowed
“Since I have also been involved in the Saibaba committee and other similar movements, the State wants to oppress me,” he said.
The professor claimed that his daughter was not allowed to go to school as the search was under way and that the family wasn’t allowed to call friends or lawyers.
