The Kerala Police have intensified the investigation into Thursday’s attack by suspected Maoists on the project office of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) at Kalamassery off Kochi. Two persons, both noted human rights activists, have been arrested but rights workers allege that the police are harassing innocents to conceal their inefficiency.

The police also carried out raids on Thursday night at the homes and offices of various individuals who were said to be supporters of Maoists in and around Kochi in connection with the incident. Sources said that several documents including Maoist literature had been seized in the raids. Several persons with alleged Maoist connections have already been questioned.

The persons the police arrested were Jaison Cooper, an employee of the State Insurance Department, and Thushar Nirmal Saradhi, a lawyer. Though the police confirmed that Cooper had Maoist links they were yet to get clear evidences for his role in the attack on the NHAI office. They also claimed that Maoist literature and books had been seized from his home.

A Kochi court on Friday left Cooper, arrested under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), in the custody of the police till February 6. However, Jaison told newsmen that he had no Maoist links. The police had not seized any Maoist literature from his house and the only papers he had were documents connected with human rights issues, he claimed.

The police had taken him into custody earlier in connection with the Maoist attack on the corporate office of gelatin manufacturer Nitta Gelatin limited at Kochi on November 10 and had questioned him for a whole night. However, they are now examining if he had any links with any incident in the light of Thursday’s attack.

The police slapped charges under UAPA also on lawyer Thushar Nirmal Saradhi who was arrested on Friday from Kozhikode just after he held a Press conference on rights violation. They had carried out a raid on his apartment in Thripunithura near Kochi on Thursday night. Police sources said several documents proving his Maoist connections were seized from his flat.

Rights workers alleged that the arrests were proof of how the police, frustrated due to their inability to nab the real culprits, were harassing innocents in order to hide their failure. “Cooper was held over the Nitta Gelatin affair also and the police had harassed him for a whole night. This is plain fascism,” said PJ Manuel, leader of the outfit, Porattom.

Suspected Maoists had vandalized the NHAI’s project office in Kalamassery on Thursday morning by burning several important files relating to the development of the Salem-Kanyakumari NH 47. Several Maoist pamphlets containing slogans against privatization of roads and evictions in the name of highways development had been recovered from the spot.

At the same time, there are complaints that the police are harassing private individuals in order to conceal their inefficiency. “These Special Branch men know nothing about left extremists. Therefore, they almost always consider harmless former Naxalites who have nothing to do with the CPI(Maoist) and in fact are opposed to it as Maoists,” said a Kochi-based former Naxalite. He pointed out that the police were engaged in a “witch hunt” without even confirming whether the attack on the NHAI office was in fact carried out by Maoists.