‘Maoist plot’ to kill VC foiled

Suresh Dharur

Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, March 31

The Andhra Pradesh police on Saturday claimed to have foiled a Maoist plot to kill the Vice Chancellor of Hyderabad Central University, Dr Podile Appa Rao, with the arrest of two persons in Khammam district at the Pitchukulapadu Junction on Friday.

The duo, who allegedly met secretary of the Telangana state committee of the CPI (Maoist) Yapa Narayana alias Haribhushan in the Bastar forests, was tasked with killing the VC because of the student anger against him over the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula in the university hostel three years ago. The Maoist leadership believed that the VC’s assassination would help attract fresh recruits from the university, the police claimed.

The arrested persons were identified as Ankala Prudviraj (27) of Krishna district and Chandan Kumar Mishra (28) of Howrah, West Bengal. Both had studied at Hyderabad Central University. Prudviraj, a member of the Telangana Vidyarthi Vedika, was earlier caught escorting a woman believed to be the wife of CPI (Maoist) central committee member Pulluri Prasada Rao alias Chandranna. He was jailed and later released on bail.

Mishra, who joined Hyderabad Central University in 2013 for a postgraduate course, was a member of the Telangana Praja Front and the SFI. He later joined the Maoist party. Mishra was said to have met Haribhushan in Cherla area in December last through a contact working with the Telangana Vidya Vedika. In January this year, Prudviraj and Mishra met Haribhushan in a forest area between Cherla and Venkatapuram with the help of a Maoist courier.

They were instructed to look for fresh recruits from Hyderabad Central University. During the course of discussion, the issue of Vemula’s suicide came up. It was then decided that if the VC was killed “in the name of Maoist party”, many students were likely to be attracted to the party.

“The duo met Maoist leader Haribhushan who told them it was the right time to kill the VC. He handed over letterheads to be dropped at the crime site. But the two were nabbed while returning to the city,” the police claimed.

Reason: Vemula suicide

• The arrested duo was allegedly tasked with killing the VC because of the student anger against him over the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula in the university hostel three years ago
• The Maoist leadership believed that the VC's assassination would help attract fresh recruits from the university