KOCHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) suspects that 26-year-old Vijith Vijayan, who was arrested on Thursday in connection with the Pantheerankavu Unlawful Atrocities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case, was working with the publication wing of the banned CPI (Maoist) organisation and used to translate radical Maoist literature from English to Malayalam.
Vijith, who has been named the fourth accused in the case, had also allegedly played a key role in propagating the radical ideology among youths. Meanwhile, the agency has arraigned Vijith’s friend Eldho Wilson, who is yet to be arrested, as the fifth accused.
The case pertains to the arrest of students Thwaha Fasal and Alan Suhaib from Pantheerankavu in November 2019, for allegedly holding a clandestine Maoist meeting outside a shop in Kozhikode. The third accused C P Usman, who is still absconding, purportedly managed to flee when the police patrolling team reached the spot.
The case drew major flak for the ruling Left government after the police charged the UAPA against the arrested duo. In September last year, the NIA court had granted bail to Alan and Thwaha, only for the Kerala High Court to cancel the latter’s bail on January 4 this year.The NIA produced Vijith, who is allegedly a close associate of the three accused in the case, at the NIA Court on Friday. He has been remanded in judicial custody till February 19. On Monday, the court will consider the agency’s petition seeking custody of Vijith.
According to sources in the agency, Vijith is a BTech graduate and has worked as a teacher in tuition centres. “Our investigation has revealed that he is an active cadre of the CPI (Maoist) organisation and maintained close contact with leaders of the banned outfit. He is also suspected to be part of the publication wing of the CPI (Maoist) party and apparently translated Maoist literature from English to Malayalam,” an NIA official said.