Kabir Kala Manch activists surrender: ATS

Mumbai: Two members of Pune-based cultural group Kabir Kala Manch (KKM), alleged to be Maoists, were arrested today after they surrendered before police outside Maharashtra Assembly premises.

The two KKM members, identified as Sheetal Sathe (27) and Sachin Mali (30), surrendered outside the Assembly premises, a Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) officer said. The two have been booked under relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The KKM has urged the police to refrain from torturing them or implicating them in any false cases. "We expect nothing less and nothing more than the due process of law," the KKM said in its statement. "Less than two years ago, KMM members were forced to go underground after the police began alleging that they were Maoists. Our members were also arrested earlier. Fearing arrest and torture, as well as possible planting of evidence, Sachin and Sheetal stayed out of public sight until now," the KMM said. In a crackdown conducted during April 2011, the ATS had arrested Angela Sontakke (42), an alleged Maoist and wife of Milind Teltumbde, allegedly the secretary of the Communist Party of India-Maoist`s Maharashtra committee, with Rs 1.54 lakh in her possession from the neighbouring Thane district, while her aide Sushma Ramteke (27) was held from Pune. The two had a good academic background. Days later, four more alleged Maoists, Mayur Bhagat alias Jenny (23), Jyoti Chorghe (19) and Anuradha Sonule (23) were nabbed from Pune, while Sonule`s aide Siddharth Bhosale (24) was arrested at Nashik. Allegedly, Sontakke also worked as secretary of the `Golden Corridor Committee` formed in February 2008 to spread Maoist ideology among students and labourers. PTI