ATS wants DNA profiling of top ‘Maoist’ leader with ‘many names’; he objects

Rao was wanted by the ATS for his alleged links with top CPI Maoist leader Konath Murlidharan alias Ajith and a member C P Ismail, who were arrested from Talegaon Dabhade in Pune district on May 8, 2015. Both were booked under IPC and UAPA sections.

The ATS chargesheeted Ajith and Ismail on October 14, 2015 and framed charges against them on February 5, 2021. Rao was named as a wanted accused in this case.

While the trial of this case is on before a special court in Pune, Rao was arrested by the Telangana police on September 15, 2023. Telangana police allegedly recovered a revolver from Rao and claimed him to be the secretary of Western Ghat Special Zonal Committee (WGSZC), South Regional Bureau and member of Central Committee (CC) of the banned CPI Maoist.

The Pune unit of the ATS took Rao’s custody from a jail in Hyderabad on July 3. A special court in Pune remanded him in police custody till July 11 for investigation into the ATS case of 2015.

On July 9, ATS sleuths took Rao to the government-run Sassoon hospital for taking his blood sample for DNA profiling. But Rao objected.

So, ACP Subhash Dudhgaonkar of the ATS filed an application before a special court on June 10, seeking permission to take Rao’s blood samples for DNA profiling. The application stated that Aadhaar cards with Rao’s photograph but different names have been seized from him at Hyderabad.

Rao’s lawyer Parth Shah opposed the ATS application claiming “exercise of collection of DNA by the police is ex-facie illegal and smacks of an ulterior motive to use it against this accused elsewhere.”

During the hearing of the case on Thursday, special public prosecutor Ujjwala Pawar argued that accused Rao is a leader of banned CPI-Maoist and has operated with various names like “Vijay, Vikas, Anil, Dhanraj, Anand Sahasrabuddhe and Mohan”.

Pawar said Rao worked underground for the CPI-Maoist in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Keral and Telangana.

Pawar argued, “DNA profiling was essential for investigation as the accused changed his name and identity from time to time….It will not create any prejudice against the accused and not cause violation of his human rights.”

Defence lawyer Rohan Nahar argued that the present case “does not involve an offence wherein the evidence collected by the investigating officers requires to be connected or compared with the DNA of the accused.”

“The present crime, admittedly, is that of active membership of a banned organisation and commission of the offences of forgery for the purposes of impersonation of the accused persons, sometime prior to 2015. The DNA profiling would not strengthen the case of the prosecution in the present crime,” Nahar said.

The court will pass an order in this matter on July 15. Meanwhile, special judge V R Kachare remanded Rao to judicial custody.

As per police records, Rao is a native of Shivagandha Nagar, Ambernath in Thane district. He did BTech from Regional Engineering College (REC), now known as NIIT, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), when he allegedly became friends with some of those supporting the separatist movement in Kashmir.

Police said after returning from J&K, he allegedly joined the left-wing extremist (LWE) movement in the early 1990s. He initially worked with “CPI ML CRC group and CPI ML Rawood group”. When some Communist groups of Kerala and Maharashtra came together to form the “Maoist Unity Centre” in 1997, Rao was allegedly made the secretary of its state unit, police said.

Rao is alleged to have close links with Ajith, a native of Ernakulam in Kerala and son of a former diplomat. Alleged to be a top Maoist ideologue, Ajith was arrested and jailed in multiple cases of Naxal activities, but is currently out on bail and has refuted all charges.

Police said after the formation of CPI (ML) Naxalbari in 1999, Ajith and Rao allegedly worked together on different positions in the party in Kerala and Maharashtra. Rao’s wife is also alleged to be a Maoist operative.

Police said Rao was arrested and convicted for putting up objectionable posters in Nandurbar region in 2000. Meanwhile, in May 2014, CPI (ML) Naxalbari merged with CPI-Maoist. Ajith and Rao then allegedly became CC members of CPI-Maoist and worked in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu “tri-junction”and Western Ghats in Maharashtra, police said.

According to ATS, Rao had allegedly introduced Ajith as “Thomas Joseph” and Ismail as “James Mathews” to a builder from Pune. ATS probe revealed that some of Rao’s contacts provided SIM cards and Internet dongles in their names to Ajith. They also allegedly helped Ajith and Ismail in getting a flat on rent in Lotus Villa, Talegaon Dabhade from where they were arrested in 2015.

ATS had then recovered laptop, cell phones, internet dongle, Maoist literature, a fake PAN card with name Thomas Joseph and Ajit’s photograph from the accused.