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'Another Rajiv Gandhi incident': Are Maoists planning to target Modi's roadshows?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a roadshow in Varanasi during the 2017 UP elections | AFP

A letter allegedly found in the house of one of the five persons arrested for links with the banned CPI (Maoist) on Wednesday talks about the ultras mulling "another Rajiv Gandhi type incident" to end 'Modi raj', Pune police have told a city court. The letter refers (photo attached) to targeting 'his roadshows'.

Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was killed by an LTTE suicide bomber when campaigning for Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu in 1991.

The purported Maoist letter was found in the house of Rona Wilson, an activist who was arrested from Delhi.

The letter recovered from Rona Wilson's house | ANI

The letter declares "Defeating Hindu fascism has been our core agenda and a major concern for the party." The letter claims Maoists are working to consolidate ties with “like-minded organisations, political parties and representatives of minorities across the country”.

The Maoist letter notes “Modi-led Hindu fascist regime is bulldozing its way into the lives of indigenous Adivasis” and claims the BJP's poll progress would cause immense damage to the Maoists.

The letter claims a 'Com. Kisan' and few other senior comrades had proposed concrete steps to end Modi raj. "We are thinking along the lines of another Rajiv Gandhi type incident. It sounds suicidal and there is a chance that we might fail but party must deliberate on our proposal," Prosecutor Ujjwala Pawar quoted the letter as saying. The letter adds, “Targeting his roadshows could be an effective strategy.”

The mention of roadshows will heighten suspicion that the target in mind is Prime Minister Narendra Modi, given his propensity to conduct such high-profile public events.

Police on Wednesday arrested dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale, lawyer Surendra Gadling, activists Mahesh Raut, Shoma Sen and Wilson from Mumbai, Nagpur and Delhi, respectively, in connection with the 'Elgar Parishad' held in Pune in December and the subsequent Bhima-Koregaon caste violence in the district.

The lawyers of the accused said the documents cited by the prosecution were fabricated.

All five were produced before a sessions court, which remanded them in police custody till June 14.

The police allege the Maoists had planned for the Bhima-Koregaon violence in advance and the ultras were attempting to keep the agitation alive by reaching out to dalits.

(With PTI inputs)