Activists’ arrests: Funds were utilised to recruit students from JNU and TISS to naxal ideology, says prosecutor in Pune court

Prosecutor Pawar was opposing the bail plea of the five activists who were arrested on June 8

Continuing with her arguments to oppose the bail pleas of activists arrested for alleged links to the banned Maoists organisations in the country, special public prosecutor Ujjwala Pawar on Tuesday said that Sudha Bharadwaj allegedly took the responsibility for funds to be utilised in rural parts of the country, where students from the Jawaharlal Nehru University and Tata Institute of Social Sciences (Tiss) were recruited and trained in the “naxal ideology”.

Human rights advocate Sudha Bharadwaj (left) after she was arrested by the Pune police in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence, in Faridabad on August 28. (PTI/HT)

The prosecution was arguing against the bail applications of advocate Surendra Gadling and Nagpur professor Shoma Sen, who were arrested on June 8; as well as Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira and Sudha Bharadwaj, who are currently under house arrest for alleged Maoist links.

Opposing the bail plea of the five activists Pawar told the additional sessions court that Bharadwaj’s name had cropped up during investigation, especially related to the responsibility of utilising the funds for attracting.

“Her name, along with advocate Surendra Gadling’s, is connected with the Indian association of people’s lawyers (IAPL). Students from JNU and Tiss are taken deep into the jungles and indoctrinated in Naxal ideology. It is there that underground comrades meet and chalk out their anti-government strategy. The accused have played the role of advocating, assisting , abetting and inciting people towards violence and creating chaos in society and subsequently, disaffection towards the government. We have submitted the letters, minutes of the meeting and the intercepted communication for verification before the judge,” Pawar submitted before sessions judge KD Vadane.