Since the morning of September 05 2023, coordinated raids have been carried out by the National Investigation Agency in Eastern Uttar Pradesh targeting activists associated with Bhagat Singh Students Morcha and Peoples Union for Civil Liberties.
According to a presser by Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), a joint front of about 40 organisations, NIA has raided the homes of PUCL state president Seema Azad, her partner and advocate Vishwavijay, advocate Soni Azad and organiser of a workers’ organisation Ritesh Vidyarthi along with political activist Manish Azad in Allahabad.
The premier investigation agency also raided the office of BSM in Benaras Hindu University. BSM is one of the constituent organisations of CASR.
“Along with these raids, NIA has taken Seema Azad, Vishwavijay, Soni Azad and Ritesh Vidyarthi with them to an unknown location in an unlawful manner that reeks of undemocratic political repression. Information regarding their whereabouts is unavailable,” CASR stated.
NIA has not made any statement about the raid on their social media handles.
CASR alleges that when two students from BSM attempted to talk to the investigation team regarding the raid being conducted at their offices, the officers slapped one of the students, screaming at the students for “daring to question” the raid in any manner.
Two of the students, Akanksha Azad, the President and Siddhi, the Joint Secretary of BSM are forcefully made to sit in the room and interrogated while their phones have been confiscated by the NIA officers.
CASR said the raids are part of a “campaign of political repression” in UP and linked the action to a similar raid at the house of a Khiriya Bagh-Azamgarh farmers’ movement activist Rajesh. Similar raids have also taken place in Chandauli district.
The coalition strongly condemned the “undemocratic” raids and demanded to stop such raids.
