HYDERABAD: The National Investigation Agency on Wednesday carried out searches at the residence of High Court advocate and vice-president of Civil Liberties Committee-Telangana, V Raghunath, apart from the houses of other civil rights activists, at seven locations in Hyderabad. The searches, which began at 6 pm and continued till late night, were in connection with the alleged links with the banned Maoist party and its cadres. Maoist literature and other incriminating material were seized. The NIA had taken up the investigation based on a case registered by the Andhra Pradesh police against 64 people.
Civil rights activists condemned the NIA searches on Wednesday, stating that these were intended to create fear among those raising their voice against anti-people policies.“This is nothing but suppression of people’s voice and indicates growing intolerance. Both the Union and State governments do not want anybody to question them. If anybody dares to do so, they charge them with foisted cases with UAPA charges,” Gaddam Laxman, president of the Civil Liberties Committee, Telangana, said.
The raids at the residence of High Court advocate V Raghunath in Hyderabad and other civil rights activists comes after a case was registered by the Andhra Pradesh police against 64 people at the Munchingput police station in Visakhapatnam district in November 2020. Advocate Rahul, an associate of Raghunath, said they received information about Raghunath receiving money from people associated with the Maoists, which he claimed as a false allegation. “They said the searches were in connection with the case in AP, but he is not involved in it and his name is also not in the case,” he said.
Manchalachyuta Satyanarayana Rao, a general member of the Revolutionary Writers’ Association, said, “I strongly condemn the act of entering and conducting searches in the name of the UAPA Act, without entering and issuing pre-orders.”The AP police had, in November 2020, arrested Pangi Naganna and seized Maoist literature, press notes, medicines, wire bundles and other incriminating material from him.
The police stated said Naganna is a journalist and has also been working for the Maoists. Based on his statements, they named 63 others, all associated with people’s organisations and civil rights activists, stating that they were involved with Maoist frontal outfits as accused in the case.Later, the NIA took up the case and registered an FIR on March 7, 2021. In furtherance to the investigation into the case, the NIA teams carried out searches at seven different locations in Hyderabad -- advocate V Raghunath’s residence at Dilsukhnagar and others’ houses at Medipally, Jawaharnagar, Alwal and Gudimalkapur.
Attack on dissent
Civil rights activists condemned the searches, stating that these were intended to create fear among those raising their voice