TVV and TPF party leaders arrested for Maoist ‘links’

HYDERABAD: A few days after the city’s police commissioner

Anjani Kumar

named several student bodies, rights groups and NGOs as fronts of the banned CPI (Maoist) party, Telangana police on Tuesday arrested two senior leaders of two such organisations —

Telangana Vidyarthi Vedika

(TVV) and

Telangana Praja Front

(

TPF

). Incidentally, one of them is pursuing PhD in land reforms from Osmania University.

A team of Telangana state police arrested Telangana Vidyarthi Vedika (TVV) president Bandari Shankareappa Maddileti, 30, and Telangana Praja Front (TPF) vice-president Nalamasa Krishna, 45, at TPF office at Baghlingampally.

A few days ago, a case was registered against the two under Sections 120 (b) (punishment for criminal conspiracy) of the IPC, Section 8 (i) (ii) of the TSPS Act and Sections 18 (Punishment for conspiracy), 18 (b) (Punishment for recruiting of any person or persons for terrorist act) & 20 (Punishment for being member of terrorist gang or organisation) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act against eight accused based on confession of TVV member Naganna, who was arrested in Mahbubnagar.

According to police, Naganna confessed that Maddileti, Jagan, Balaram, Krishna, Shilpa, Renuka, Ramesh and himself met in Gadwal to discuss about recruitment of cadre and other activities. Naganna also confessed that he and other accused had met senior CPI-Maoist party leadership. Based on his confession, police raided Maddileti’s house at Adikmet and after seizing incriminating material, registered a separate case at the Nallakunta police station.

“Maddileti and Krishna have been produced before court and they were sent in judicial remand,” Gadwal in-charge superintendent of police (SP) Apoorva Rao said.

“My husband and Krishna have not committed any crime. Police should immediately release them,” Maddileti’s wife Chandrakala told the media. Gadwal police had earlier arrested TVV activists Naganna, Balaram and K Jagan, assistant professor of OU PG College, Secunderabad, in the same case.

According to the SP, Maddileti and Krishna were actively working for the Maoist party. Police said they had seized Maoist party literature, circulars and other incriminating material from the possession of Maddileti and Krishna.

According to police, both Maddileti and Krishna have criminal records. Maddileti, a native of Mahbubnagar, had discontinued LLB while studying at a college in Baghlingampally. Currently, he is pursuing MCJ from Telugu University.

Police said that Maddileti is an accused in five cases, while Krishna, a native of Bhadradri-Kothagudem, is an accused in five cases. Krishna, an advocate is currently pursuing a PhD in land reforms.