Tribal activist wanted in dozen cases arrested in Chhattisgarh

“She was hiding in Raipur after changing her name. We have 12 court warrants against her for arresting and producing her in court. She is part of their (the CPI Maoist) city network and an important part of their frontal organisation,” he said.

According to one police officer, Pottam belongs to the Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Sangh, a women’s wing that comes under the banned CPI (Maoists).

“However, they (the organisation) do not say they are part of the women’s wing, instead Pottam says she is part of the tribal rights group, Moolvasi Bachao Manch,” this officer said.

Civil rights advocacy group People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) called the arrest illegal. In a press statement, the PUCL claimed Pottam was a 25-year-old tribal activist, a member of the advocacy group, and had been known to raise her voice against state oppression, even filing a petition before the Chhattisgarh High Court against an alleged fake encounter from 2016.

“In the most shocking way, the other two colleagues were pushed inside the room and bolted from outside before the DSP took Pottam in an unregistered vehicle without number plates (after) threatening the landlady not to open the door,” PUCL claimed in the statement.

The activist has been arrested for raising her voice against police oppression and has been at the forefront of several protests — including the widening of village roads in violation of The Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act — 1996, the statement said.

“As a human rights defender, Suneeta Pottam has been a thorn in the eyes of Bijapur Police as she has been raising her voice against atrocities, especially against women, committed by the police in Bijapur. In 2016, she had petitioned before Chhattisgarh High Court against the extra judicial killings of six persons in 2016 in the villages of Kadenar, Palnar, Korcholi and Andri of Bijapur district,” the statement read.