Varavara Rao produced in K'taka court

Tumakuru: The Karnataka police on Thursday produced Telugu poet and activist Varavara Rao in the court of the Additional Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Pavagada, Tumakuru district.

Hundreds of police personnel were deployed on the court premises.  Rao was brought in a police van amid tight security to the court hall.

Superintendent of Police Vamshikrishna and Additional Superintendent of Police Shobharani and other officers were also present.

The Karnataka police had taken the custody of Telugu poet and activist Varavara Rao, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, in connection with the 2005 Tumkur Naxal attack case.

It may be recalled that on February 6, 2005, naxal leader Saket Rajan alias Prem was killed in an encounter in Chikmagalur district of Karnataka. In retaliation, naxals attacked the Karnataka State Reserve police (KSRP) battalion in Venkammanahalli in Tumkur district five days later and killed seven KRSP personnel and a civilian.

Varavara Rao had addressed public meetings in the Chikmagalur area in early 2003.

Rao was arrested by Pune police on August 28 last year in the Elgar Parishad case with activists Sudha Bhardwaj, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves and Gautam Navalakha.

Rao was accused of having a nexus with top fugitive Maoist operatives and of being actively involved in the procurement of arms and ammunition, recruitment of students and funding of Maoist activities.

Police said the Maoist-backed Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, and the speeches at the event aggravated the violence at the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial in Pune district the next day.