Active Maoist student body in Delhi: Police

The Maoists have an active students’ body in Delhi, says the chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police against CPI (Maoist) leader Kobad Ghandy in a city court on Friday.

The Maoists have an active students’ body in Delhi, says the chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police against CPI (Maoist) leader Kobad Ghandy in a city court on Friday.

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A prominent research scholar from a central university and a human rights activist (names withheld) have been described as sympathizers of the outfit.

Police said so far they have identified the two students who head the Maoist body here and are on the lookout for the remaining members. “There are three active couriers of the Maoist outfit. We are looking for these men,” said an officer.

One of them has been named as Arvind Joshi. He is said to be a PhD scholar and is accused of giving shelter to Ghandy at his rented accommodation in Molarband Extension near Badarpur in southeast Delhi, police said. However, the police have been unable to find his name in Delhi University rolls.

The day of Ghandy’s arrest in Delhi (September 20, 2009), Joshi, a native of Haldwani in Uttarakhand, fled with Rs 5 lakh, a laptop and several CDs, police said. The police are conducting raids to arrest him.

The outfit also has sympathisers with trade unions in Okhla Industrial Area and a person named Sudhir heads it.

When contacted by HT, the civil rights activist named in the chargesheet said it was a move to silence them. “I have met Ghandy in jail and it is there in the records. They (police) can level allegations, I have never met him before his arrest. It is their chargesheet, they can say whatever they want. Let them prove it if they have evidence,” the activist said.