Fergusson College student among 6 young Dalits held for Naxal links

Five are women,three Arts graduates,the sixth doing MA in Economics

The Bhosale family may still find it hard to believe that their brightest and most educated member,attending one of the countrys topmost colleges,Punes Fergusson College,is accused of being a Naxalite. Siddhartha Bhosale,a Masters student in Economics,who also took the entrance exams for becoming a Class I government officer,was one of the six alleged Naxalites arrested by the the Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) near Chandwad in Nashik on April 29.

All the six are Dalits and the five arrested with Bhosale are young Dalit women,three of whom are graduate students. The seniormost is Angelo Sontakke,wife of Naxal leader Milind Teltumbde,who was allegedly behind the February 2009 attack in Gadhchiroli that killed about 15 policemen.

The other four: Sushma Ramteke alias Shraddha Gurav,arrested from Pirangut in Pune; Mayuri Bhagat (23) alias Jenny; Jyothi Chorghe (19) and Anuradha Sonule (23),all arrested from the Shivajinagar area of Pune. Naxal literature,cash,a laptop,cellphones and other items were seized from the suspects.

Bhagat,a native of Chandrapur,is a graduate in Arts who shifted to Mundwa in Pune to work with Sontakke. Chorghe and Sonule,also Arts graduates,stayed in a small room in Bhosari and allegedly worked as couriers for the groups activity.

Bhosale,from Ahmednagar,lives in a small,rented house in Bhagyoday Nagar,Kondhwa,in Pune. Police said he was trained in Gadhchiroli by top Naxal operatives and was assigned the task of recruiting youngsters from Pune and Nashik into the Maoist fold. Bhosales arrest and his brief,police said,has underlined their suspicion that the Maoists are targeting colleges and institutions in urban areas to recruit young cadres from Dalit or backward classes.

It was a huge shock for us to when we got to know about his arrest. He was a very sincere student,he used to read lot of books. He also took the competitive examination of MPSC (Maharashtra Public Service Commission), said his elder brother Chandrakant,who works as a peon in a village school.

He was a very active young man and never tolerated injustice, his brother told The Indian Express. We could make out from the way he talked that he was strongly against corruption. But he never just thought of Dalits or backward classes. He was concerned about the welfare of all. It was unbelievable when police told us that he was linked to Maoists.

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Said Chandrakant: We are four brothers staying together in our rented house. He used to stay out for a few days but not for long. He used to contact us on phone when he would be away from home. We found he used to stay with friends or relatives. We never questioned him as he is the most educated among us and we believe he would never do anything wrong. His younger brother Sagar said that they belong to the Mahar caste,a backward community.

Investigators believe that Bhosale was indoctrinated to join the Naxals and trained in Gadhchiroli a few months ago. He is also believed to have been paid to recruit youngsters. Not without reason. Ravindra Kadam,DIG (Anti Naxal operations),said that the Naxals Golden Corridor Committee was set up to target students and labourers in industrial centres of Gujarat and Maharashtra,especially in cities like Pune,Mumbai,Thane and Nashik.

Police said they are exploring how these young men and women are linked to the Golden Corridor Group and how far this network spreads.