India
According to the message circulating on social media, the protest has been called to condemn the arrest of five Maoist sympathisers aka urban naxals by Pune Police from different locations including Delhi
Sundry self-styled groups have planned to hold demonstrations protesting the Pune Police’s action of arresting urban naxals on Wednesday afternoon in the capital without taking proper permission from Delhi Police.
According to sources, a protest has been planned at Maharashtra Sadan, Kasturba Gandhi Marg in Delhi. Some rabble rousers have been circulating a message informing the people of the picketing via WhatsApp and Facebook.
Meanwhile, Delhi Police said there was no permission of protest at the Maharashtra Sadan; any protest, it said, would be deemed illegal.
"We have received no request from anyone regarding the protest. Also, no permission can be granted for protest in the New Delhi area. We will request protesters to called off their protests," a senior police officer said.
"We have also instructed districts to keep a check on illegal activities that attract police action. There have been instances where unlawful activities have been noticed and Delhi Police has taken action," the officer added.
According to the message circulating on social media, the protest has been called to condemn the arrest of five Maoist sympathisers aka urban naxals by Pune Police from different locations including Delhi.
"Since Bhima Koregaon Violence against Dalits, the Maharashtra govt. along with the Central agencies have been targetting Dalit rights activists, intellectuals and journalists who are speaking up or writing about it and lawyers who are taking up their cases. False charges have been leveled and draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) has been invoked. To condemn and protest against this attack on the democratic rights and civil liberty, please gather," the message reads.
Pune Police had intercepted an internal Maoist communiqué that talked about assassinating Prime Minister Narendra Modi while investigating the violence witnessed in Bhima-Koregaon close to the New Year celebrations of 2018 — in commemoration of an event of Maharashtrian history that had never seen such a large congregation of urban naxals before December 2017. Pune Police went on a nationwide hunt to trace the masterminds of the violence.
Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Gautam Navlakha, Varavara Rao and Sudha Bharadwaj (who was later kept in house arrest by the order of a court) were arrested on Tuesday for their alleged links with Maoists.
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