BTech from J-K, active in Western Ghat, ‘Maoist’ leader Sanjoy Rao’s Pune links

An FIR was registered against Rao at the KPHB Colony police station in Hyderabad’s Cyberabad area on September 15 under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), Telangana Police Special Powers Act, and Arms Act.

Police Inspector D Venkatesh confirmed they have booked 23 others in this case, including CPI(Maoist) general secretary Nambala Keshava Rao, Muppalla Laxman Rao alias Ganpathy as well as Konath Murlidharan alias Ajith and C P Ismail.

A Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) team, then headed by inspector Bhanupratap Barge, had arrested Ajith and Ismail from Talegaon Dabhade in Pune on May 8, 2015, under sections of IPC and UAPA. ATS had named Sanjoy Rao as a wanted accused in the Pune case.

As per a press statement, while on the run, Rao visited his friends in Mumbai, Pune, and Hyderabad taking utmost precautions.

Left Wing links since 1990s

A native of Shivagandha Nagar, Ambernath in the Thane district of Maharashtra, Rao’s father was associated with a Communist trade union. He studied at an English medium school in Ambernath, and completed college in Dombivli.

The police said he did BTech from Regional Engineering College (REC), now known as NIIT, Jammu and Kashmir (J-K), where he became friends with some of those supporting the separatist movement in Kashmir. They said after returning from J-K he became active in the Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) movement in the early 1990s.

He initially worked with the Central Reorganisation Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) 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 made the secretary of its state unit.

Association with ‘Ajith’ and work in Western Ghat

Rao, according to the police, worked closely with top-ranking Maoist leader Ajith, a native of Ernakulam in Kerala and the son of a former diplomat. The police said Ajith did his schooling in China, Romania, and Denmark during his father’s posting to these countries. He joined a college in Kerala but left mid-way to allegedly join the Naxal movement with K Venu in 1975. Since then, Ajith has been arrested and jailed in multiple cases of Naxal activities.

After the formation of CPI(ML) Naxalbari in 1997, Ajith and Rao became secretaries for its units in Kerala and Maharashtra respectively. Ajith later became the national secretary of the outfit.

The police said Rao allegedly used different aliases like Vijay and Anand Sahasrabuddhe and claimed to be a social activist working for tribals and Dalits in Maharashtra.

As per records, Rao and his aides were arrested on charges of sedition, under sections of the IPC and Prevention of Defacement of Property Act in three cases in Nandurbar in July-August 2000. They were allegedly involved in putting objectionable posters in this region. Rao was convicted and released after serving three months of imprisonment.

The police said he shifted to Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh for Naxal work. He was again arrested by the Karnataka police in 2005 but was acquitted. In 2007, he married Saritha alias Parvathi, an alleged Maoist operative from Anantapur, arrested recently in a separate case.

Rao was allegedly part of important secret meetings of CPI(ML) Naxalbari with Ajith, including the one at Thrissur in Kerala in August 2013 where the outfit decided to merge with CPI(Maoist) and raise an armed struggle. After the merger in May 2014, Ajith and Rao became CC members of the CPI(Maoist). They allegedly worked in the Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu “tri-junction” and Maharashtra’s Western Ghats. Rao also focussed on Maoist “front and mass organisations” in urban areas, according to the police.

The Pune case

The police said Rao developed a “ground network” in Maharashtra. Due to health issues, Ajith allegedly shifted to Maharashtra with Rao’s help. Alleged Maoist cadre Ismail joined Ajith as a “courier”. The police suspect Rao arranged fake Aadhaar and PAN cards for them. According to ATS, Rao introduced Ajith as Thomas Joseph and Ismail as James Mathews to a builder in Pune.

ATS also alleged Rao tried to indoctrinate Sameer Sane, a government employee from Thane, to procure logistic help from him. They said Sane already remembered Ajith as Sunny as they had earlier met around 1990.

ATS probe also 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, Pune, from where they were arrested.

ATS had recovered laptops, cell phones, internet dongles, Maoist literature, and other alleged incriminating material including a fake PAN card with the name of Thomas Joseph but a photograph of Ajith.

Investigators alleged Ajith was preparing propaganda material for Maoists and he communicated with top Naxal leaders regarding various operations of the banned group. He was allegedly translating a book Bhoomi Jaati Bandhanam (Land Caste Bondage) from Malayalam to English.

The police suspect Ajith allegedly travelled from Pune to Mumbai, Kerala, and other places for medical checkups and party meetings. They also suspect he attended a meeting of the Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties of South Asia (CCOMPSA) in Nepal in 2011.

After his arrest, a few international groups supporting the Maoist movement in India had campaigned for his release. A letter allegedly released by CPI(Maoist) in September 2015 had called Ajith’s arrest a big loss.

ATS filed a chargesheet against Ajith and Ismail in the Pune case in October 2015. Both have denied all allegations levelled against them by the ATS. “Both are released on bail. Charges have been framed against them and the matter is fixed for trial before a special court in Pune,” said defence lawyer Rohan Nahar.

ATS is likely to question Rao to get fresh leads.

Meanwhile, out on bail, Ajith has authored books Critiquing Brahmanism, Of Concept and Methods, which are collections of his writings in Yerwada jail. Another book, Against Avakianism, which he wrote a few years before his arrest in Pune, has also been published.