Two years on, two other suspected Maoists await trial

In August 2007, the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) arrested two alleged members of the Communist Party of India (Maoists), Vernon Stanislaus Gonsalves alias Vikram and Shridhar Krishnan Shrinivasan alias Vishnu, reports HT Correspondent.

In August 2007, the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) arrested two alleged members of the Communist Party of India (Maoists), Vernon Stanislaus Gonsalves alias Vikram and Shridhar Krishnan Shrinivasan alias Vishnu.

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The police had said they were arrested on the basis of information provided by Arun Ferreira and Ashok Reddy, and claimed to have recovered two US-made automatic pistols, live cartridges, a grenade, gelatine sticks, detonators, two-way radios, a laptop, printer, CDs, pen drives and Rs 6.09 lakh in cash.

They were booked under the Arms Act, Explosives Act and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Now, they are waiting for their trial to begin. In Mumbai, the ATS has filed a charge sheet and charges have been framed. P A Sebastian, a senior advocate, said: "The cases registered against them are frivolous."

Police said Shrinivasan was the Maharashtra state head and a member of the National Politbureau and the Central Planning Committee of the CPI (Maoist), and that Gonsalves, allegedly a former state head, continued his association with the movement.

Gonsalves, after getting a Bachelors in Commerce degree, then pursued a Masters from Mumbai University. After a brief stint with Siemens, he was a lecturer for commerce and economics at Ruparel College and HR College.

He left teaching in 1984, to work with tribals along with his wife Susan Abraham in the Chandrapur area between 1984 and 1994. Shrinivasan joined the Left movement after getting a Bachelor of Arts degree from Elphinstone College, Mumbai.