Journalist’s house among locations searched as NIA probes Maoist links

The National Investigation Agency has reportedly searched several locations in Hyderabad, including the residence of journalist S Venugopal, over alleged Maoist links.

Venugopal is the son-in-law of 82-year-old activist and Telugu poet Varavara Rao, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case. 

Rao was arrested by the Pune police in 2018 over charges of plotting to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and granted bail by the Supreme Court in August 2022 on medical grounds. 

On December 31, 2017, the annual celebration to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon was held at Bhima Koregaon, near Pune, in Maharashtra. A day later, violence broke out between groups of Mahars and Marathas, resulting in one death and several injuries. In the aftermath of the violence, several activists linked to organising the event were jailed. 

Newslaundry earlier reported that security researchers in the United States had found a “provable connection” between the Pune police and a “hacking campaign” conducted against activists jailed in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case, such as Rona Wilson, Varavara Rao, and Hany Babu.

The Pune police had cited books and a letter among evidence against the activists. A detailed report in Wired said research “revealed ties” between “hackers” and “the very same Indian police agency in the city of Pune that arrested multiple activists based on fabricated evidence”. Read here.

This report was published with AI assistance.