Some of the five Left-leaning activists arrested by the Pune police in a case relating to the Bhima-Koregaon violence are naxal mentors, the Telangana BJP unit alleged today, rejecting suggestions in some quarters it is a crackdown on political dissent.


Party spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao alleged that some of the arrested are certainly "naxal mentors" who are "wearing a faade of intellectuals and professionals for decades," but did not specify the individuals he was referring to.


Telugu poet Varavara Rao was picked up by Pune police in Hyderabad, Sudha Bharadwaj in Faridabad, Vernon Gonsalves in Mumbai, Arun Ferreira in Chhattisgarh and Gautam Navlakha in Delhi.


"Violence in Bhima Koregaon incidents were plotted and executed under the mentorship of a few of these mentors; some of the arrested are also part of that investigation by law enforcement agencies," Rao alleged. He rejected suggestions in some quarters that the police action is a crackdown on political dissent.


Image: Varavara Rao.