GN Saibaba, the controversial Delhi University professor, was arrested over his alleged links with banned CPI-Maoist groups on Friday. He was picked up by a team of Maharashtra Police. Saibaba, who teaches English at Ram lal Anand College, was arrested on the charges of being an active member of the CPI-Maoist groups and for providing logistics and also helping in recruiting new faces for the banned outfit.
Investigations by the Maharashtra Police and the Central security agencies have found that Saibaba was actively involved in the anti-national activities. He was questioned four times by the Maharashtra Police during the last six months and his arrest was ordered after Gadchiroli District Police in Maharashtra gathered sufficient evidence against him, said Ravindra Kadam, the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP) of Gadchiroli.
The Maharashtra Police team arrested Saibaba around 2 pm when he was on his way to his residence near Gwyer Hall in North campus. He was produced before a court and was handed over to the Maharashtra Police team on transit remand. The police team had landed in the national Capital on Friday morning and it has confiscated Saibaba’s personal computer for forensic analysis after they placed him under arrest. He was taken to the domestic terminal of Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport and flown to Mumbai for further questioning, the sources added.
The name of DU professor Saibaba had surfaced after Maharashtra Police arrested one Hemant Mishra, a student of Jawaharlal Nehru University. Mishra was identified as the courier between Saibaba and the banned Maoist groups active in the Maoist-infested Abujmad district. Mishra’s interrogation led the Maharashtra Police sleuths to Saiababa as he spilled the beans about the anti-national activities of the DU professor. Saibaba has been hobnobbing with the CPI-Maoist groups and has links with Ganpathy, the CPI-Maoists’ secretary.
Saibaba was under the lens since last six to seven months and his activities were being watched. The orders for his arrest were given after the law enforcing agencies were satisfied that there was sufficient evidence to bring him to justice.