N Venkat Rao, explosives expert at National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), reportedly had links with CPI (Maoist) brass, including its former general secretary Ganapathy, sources said.
Venkat Rao, who is a senior technical assistant (explosives) with the CSIR institute, was reportedly arrested at Chabuknala junction in Rajnandgaon district in Chhattisgarh on Sunday.
Police say they found Maoist literature, a cellphone, two wireless sets, and 23 detonators in his possession. Also, the investigators found a letter on him, written in Telugu, purportedly by a contractor from Telangana to the Maoist leadership.
“He had direct links with Central Committee members, especially Deepak Teltumbde and Central Military Commission (CMC) chairman Devji. He met the duo and even held deliberations on various issues in the Bastar forest in 2016 and 2017,” sources in Chhattisgarh police, who are part of the investigation team, told TOI.
“Murthy acted as a courier between Muppala Lakshman Rao alias Ganapathi and people part of the alleged ‘urban naxal network’ like Revolutionary Writers’ Association (RWA) members Varavara Rao and others. Since Venkat Rao is a central government employee, no one suspected he had any links with Maoist party, that too top leadership.,” the sources said.
Ganapathi, 72, recently stepped down as general secretary of the CPI (Maoist) after being at the helm for over two decades.
Talking to TOI, Hema Lalitha, Venkat Rao’s wife and an advocate, who is representing him in a court at Bilaspur, said her husband was booked under Sections 4 & 5 of the Explosive Substances Act and Sections 38 and 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Courtesy: Times of India
