Journalist, former APCLC leader arrested
Thursday, April 5, 2007
WARANGAL: The police on Wednesday arrested Indian Journalist Union (IJU) national council member and former president of Warangal Working Journalist Union Pendyala Venkata Kondal Rao, charging him with being a sympathiser of the outlawed Maoists.
They also arrested Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC) leader Chikkudu Prabhakar. Taking serious exception to the arrest, Warangal district journalist union president B R Lenin and general secretary Venkata Ramana alleged that the police had foisted false cases on Kondal Rao.
The Andhra Pradesh Working Journalists Union too expressed concern over foisting of ‘false’ cases on Kondal Rao and both demanded that the cases be withdrawn. Superintendent of Police Soumya Mishra assured to take appropriate action. Police registered cases against the arrested and produced them in the court on Wednesday evening. They have been sent to five days remand.
Police said top Maoist leader Ganesh had sent Rs 5 lakh in cash through a dalam member to Kondal Rao, for procuring party literature and other material and supply them through the APCLC leader Prabhakar. The police raided his house in Chinna Pendyala village in Station Ghanapur Mandal on Wednesday morning and seized Rs 5 lakh in cash and party literature. Chikkudu Prabhakar was present in the house during the police raid.
Kondal Rao’s mother Saraswati said that the police had foisted cases on her son as he was nephew of revolutionary writer Vara Vara Rao. She said that the seized money was hers kept for some land transactions.
Kondal Rao knew APCLC leader Prabhakar as a journalist and he did not have any relations either with Prabhakar or the Maoists, she added.
Labels: Andra Pradesh, NEWS
posted by Resistance 4/05/2007 08:19:00 AM,
