Moments after the SC said that the five activists arrested for suspected Maoist links would be placed under house arrest, the Pune police held a press conference on the charges for which the activists are being held.

The Pune police said the activists have shown a strong intolerance to the political system.


"Some of the evidence collected suggests that there was a plan to target highest political functionaries. The arrested had links with Kashmiri separatists," the police said.


The petition to the top court has sought the release of all the activists who have been arrested during raids in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon case.


The petitioners include historian Romila Thapar, Prabhat Patnaik, Devaki Jain, Satish Deshpande and Maja Daruwala.

The petitioners say the arrests were meant to muzzle dissent. "Are these arrests a demonstration to show that the democratic rights of the Indian citizen have been annulled?" petitioner Romila Thapar said in a statement.

Appearing for them is senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

The police contend the activists -- Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Fereira, Gautam Navlakha and Vernon Gonsalves -- are linked to Maoists and were planning to recruit members from 35 colleges and launch attacks.


Justice DY Chandrachud, one of the five judges hearing the petition said, "Dissent is the safety valve of democracy. If you don't allow the safety valve pressure cooker will burst."


Image: Activist Arun Fereira