Osmania University Associate Professor Chintakindi Kaseem was arrested by Mulugu police of Siddipet Commissionerate on Saturday in an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case registered against him in 2016.
Around 7 a.m. on Saturday, a police team reached the professor’s house in the staff quarters on the university campus, after they obtained a search warrant from a local court, marking fresh developments in the case.
“Recently, some inputs were received that Kaseem had more documents in his house. We searched the house only after serving court warrant to him and his wife Snehalatha,” said Siddipet Commissioner of Police D. Joel Davis, adding that the search continued till 10.05 a.m. in the presence of the accused and his family members.
The police have seized incriminating evidence, including laptop, personal computer, mobile phones, pen drives, and other electronic devices, in addition to banned revolutionary literature, the officer said.
Kaseem was in contact with CPI (Maoist) State Committee member Hari Bhushan alias Jagan and other top leaders of the Central Committee, the Commissioner said. He was appointed general secretary of Revolutionary Writers Association (Virasam) a week ago.
“He is not a ‘frontal’ guy. He is working as an organiser of ‘united front vertical’ of outlawed Maoist party in the State, which coordinates protests, funding and propagation of revolutionary ideology to different groups, including students,” Mr. Davis said.
In 2016, a fatal car accident took place at Mulugu, in which a girl died on the spot. The accused driver, Shyam Sundar from Adilabad, left the car and fled from the spot. “Later when police reached the scene, they found Shyam Sundar was transporting important documents, including communications from Kaseem to top Maoist leaders,” the officer said.
“We seized those documents and later Shyam Sundar, who was working as a courier for the party was arrested. Based on his confession, Kaseem was made one of the accused in the case,” he said.
“During the course of investigation, we gathered more documents on Kaseem’s links with CPI (Maoist) and recently, we got inputs that he had more documents at his house, following which today’s search was carried out,” the Commissioner said.
Meanwhile, the arrested professor’s wife Snehalatha alleged that the police barged in and ransacked their house in the early hours.
“They broke open the doors and gained access to our house. The police ransacked the entire house during the search,” she told the media.
Ms. Snehalatha appealed to the State government to close the case and release her husband, as he raised his voice against unemployment, discrimination and other social issues in Telangana.
“The police arrested him in a 2016 case, where two books written by him were found in a car that was involved in an accident,” she said.
Earlier in the day, mild tension prevailed on the campus with several students carrying out a protest rally condemning the arrest of the professor, following which Osmania University police reached the spot to control the situation. Forum Against Repression - Telangana and State Civil Liberties Committee condemned the arrest and demanded the immediate release of Kaseem and others.
Telangana police have arrested 17 people since October, suspecting their association with the outlawed CPI (Maoist) party.
