The “conclusive proof” with the Maharashtra Police to link the arrested activists to Maoists is “fabricated”, a nephew of the Telugu poet Varavara Rao said here on Saturday.
The police said at a press conference on Friday that they had “conclusive proof” to link left-wing activists arrested in June and this week to Maoists.
There was nothing new in the claims of the police, he said. “All this was said in June. It is nothing new. It is illegal to hold a press conference when the Supreme Court asked the evidence to be submitted on September 6,” Mr. Rao’s nephew, Venugopal, said.
He said the matter was sub judice , and alleged that the police had committed contempt of court by holding a press conference.
The police officer knew that the “evidence” was cooked up, and he had gone to the press only to defame those arrested, Mr. Venugopal said.
The Supreme Court asked the police to submit details before the judges and not to the press, Mr. Venugopal said. “It set one-week duration. Within the week, he comes out to the press, just to defame these people. This is trial by media, conducted by the police,” he said.
“I am not going into merits and demerits of this evidence. That is not evidence... That is concocted, fabricated,” he said.
The Congress, the NCP and the Shiv Sena had issued statements in June, saying evidence being cited by the police was all cooked up.
