New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency has arrested social and tribal rights activist Fr. Stan Swamy from his residence in Ranchi for alleged involvement in the violence in Maharashtra’s Koregaon-Bhima village in 2018.
Originally from Kerala, Stan Swamy has been working for tribals in Jharkhand for over five decades.
The probe agency claimed that the 83-year-old Jesuit priest was a member of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) and was “actively involved in its activities.”
An NIA official said that it arrested Stan Swamy on Thursday night from Jharkhand capital Ranchi. The official said that Swamy received funds through an associate for furtherance of the Maoist activities. The official said that Swamy is convenor of PPSC, frontal organisations of CPI (Maoist).
“During the searches the documents related to communications for furthering the activities of CPI (Maoist) and propaganda material of the CPI (Maoist) and literature were seized from his possession,” the official said.
The official said that he was also found to be in contact with some of the conspirators for the furtherance of Maoist activities.
“The NIA is after me. I’m being pressurised to go to Bombay... The NIA questioned me for 15 hours... I’m being called to the Mumbai office of the NIA. I refuse to go there. I am 83 and have health issues. I don’t want to expose myself to the coronavirus. I have never been to Bhima Koregaon,” Stan Swamy had said in a video on October 6.
“If NIA wants to question me, they can do so via video-conferencing,” he said.
