NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian police on Friday arrested a New Delhi university professor for alleged links with Maoist rebels.
G.N. Saibaba was arrested in the Indian capital and taken to Mumbai for investigation, said police officer Sindhu Pillai. She did not give further details.
The Press Trust of India news agency cited police as saying Saibaba, an English professor at Ramlal Anand College of New Delhi, was suspected of being a member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and was recruiting people for the group.
Police from western Maharashtra state’s Gadchiroli district, a rebel stronghold, traveled to New Delhi to arrest Saibaba, Pillai said. Saibaba could not be reached for comment.
The Maoist rebels, who claim inspiration from Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, have been fighting the Indian government for more than four decades, demanding land and jobs for tenant farmers and the poor.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called the rebels India’s biggest internal security threat. They operate in 20 of India’s 28 states and have thousands of fighters, according to the Home Ministry.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.