Two women professors--one from Delhi University and the other from JNU--along with Maoists and others have been booked by police in connection with the murder of a tribal villager in Naxal-affected Sukma district of Chhattisgarh.
"An FIR was lodged against DU Professor Nandini Sundar, Archana Prasad (JNU Professor), Vineet Tiwari (from Delhi's Joshi Adhikar Sansthan), Sanjay Parate(Chhattisgarh CPI (Marxist) State Secretary) and others along with Maoists for the murder of Shamnath Baghel based on the complaint of his wife on Saturday," Inspector General of Police of Chattisgarh's Bastar Range) S R P Kalluri told PTI today.
They were booked under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 147 (rioting), 148 and 149 of IPC at Tongpal police station, Kalluri said adding, "strongest possible action will be taken against those guilty after the investigation".
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Though the case was registered on Saturday, the matter came to light last night.
Both Sundar and Prasad rejected the charges against them, claiming they have been framed. Parate has accused the police of falsely implicating him and other activists in the case.
Armed Naxals had allegedly killed Baghel with sharp weapons on Friday late night (November 4) at his residence in Nama village under Kumakoleng gram panchayat in Tongpal area, around 450 km away from Raipur.
Baghel and some of his associates were spearheading the protest against Naxal activities in their village since April this year.
"As per the complaint lodged by the victim's wife, her husband had been getting threats from Maoists since he and other villagers had complained against Sundar in May this year. Even armed ultras were referring to that complaint and anti-Maoist demonstrations while attacking Baghel on Friday," the IG said.
The complaint also mentioned that during the attack on him, Maoists kept telling Baghel that he was being punished because he did not listen to Sundar and others, and continued opposing them.
Baghel's wife has sought action against Sundar and others accusing them of murdering her husband, Kalluri said.
Sundar strongly rubbished allegations of the police linking her to the murder while a number of civil rights bodies called the charges a tactic of "revenge and harassment".
She said it was a clear case of being "framed" and that police have been forcing some people in Bastar to name her and others in someway. "The FIR is patently absurd," she told PTI from the US.
Sundar, a professor of Sociology department of Delhi University, also accused Kalluri of forcing Baghel's wife to file a complaint against her, claiming the top police official was specifically targetting the activists.
Prasad, a professor of Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU), said the charges are false but not surprising.
"This false case has not come as a surprise to us considering the character of the government where activists are repetitively hounded. When media criticises them they ban the organisation, when individuals criticise them they charge them for sedition and when activists criticise them they target them selectively.
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