On Wednesday, October 18, human rights activists Brijesh Kushwaha and Prabha were arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) following an investigation involving the examination and data extraction from electronic devices confiscated from them in 2019.
The ATS claimed that they discovered letters and literature on the seized electronic devices that were allegedly associated with the banned Maoist organizations, the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), and the Communist Party of India (Maoist).
Brijesh Kushwaha, aged 43, was arrested in his hometown of Deoria, while his wife, Prabha, aged 38, was arrested at her maternal residence in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. Prabha was three months pregnant and had traveled to Raipur to spend time with her family, The Wire reported.
Brijesh is associated with the Mazdoor Kisan Ekta Manch in Deoria, while Prabha has affiliations with the Savitri Bai Phule Sangarsh Samiti.
The ATS claimed it found documents linked to Naxals after carrying out an “intensive analysis of the report packed with the complete extracted digital data received from the FSL this month.” It also claimed that it recovered letters of “comrades of CPI (Maoist),” with references to “anti-national activities” from their electronic devices.
Interestingly, during the ATS raid on their residence in 2019 and subsequent questioning, the agency reported that no “substantive material evidence” was discovered, leading to their non-arrest at that time.
The UP ATS had registered an FIR in Lucknow on 5 July 2019, after seven activists were taken into custody during raids in Bhopal, Kanpur, Deoria, and Kushi Nagar, special director general (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said. While five of them were let off as there was no concrete evidence against them, another activist couple, Manish Srivastava and Amita Srivastava alias Varsha, was arrested.
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