Gondia cops scan city for suspected Naxal front spreading urban base

A police team from Naxal-affected Gondia district was in Pune on Friday to probe details of an organisation 'Green Future Foundation' suspected to be a front for Maoists to spread their ideology and base in urban areas of the state.

The visit of the team was part of the investigations into the activities of a group of suspected Maoists arrested by the Gondia police in December 2010. The arrested included Bhimrao Mandal Bhowate (42) alias Bhanu and his wife Sunanda alias Megha. Police had recovered an identity card of 'Green Future Foundation' from Bhimrao, carrying his photograph but the name mentioned on the card was Sharad Nimje.

The identity card mentioned a Pune address and a Nagpur address of the 'Green Future Foundation'. The Gondia police team on Friday visited both these addresses, Anjali Building, Ekbote Colony, Pune 42, and Ravi Nagar, Nagpur. The team, however, found no organisation by that name operating at these addresses.

The Gondia team led by assistant inspector Prithviraj Ghorpade visited Ekbote Colony on Friday. The team also visited the Charity Commissioner's office in Pune. But no information about registration or address of this organisation was obtained. Police suspect that Maoists may have used the name 'Green Future Foundation' as a front for carrying out their activities in urban areas of Pune and Nagpur.

Maoists are suspected to be operating under different organisations to expand base in urban areas.

The Gondia police had arrested the Bhowate couple along with Gangaram Poretti, Chandramani Walde and Sanjay Banjara of Chhattisgarh in December 2010. Maoist literature was seized from the suspects.

Police considered these arrests an important breakthrough for understanding the alleged urban movements of Maoists. A Mumbai-based writer, Sudhir Dhawale, who published a monthly journal 'Vidrohi,' was also arrested in the case. Angela Sontakke, general secretary of the Golden Corridor Committee of CPI (Maoist), which aims at spreading Naxal base in urban areas of the state, was also booked. Angela was arrested by the State ATS from Thane in April 2011.

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