'Police wanted to frame more people'

Prof Satyanarayana, an anti-caste activist and head of the Department of Cultural Studies at English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) who was arrested in the Koregaon-Bhima violence case on August 28 said Pune police wanted to frame more people in the case.

“They wanted to frame more people in the case because they had already arrested my father in law and then arrived at my home asking for him. They had addresses of my home, the residence of journalist Kurmanath (another son in law) and of Varavara Rao’s Gandhi Nagar house,” he said while speaking to DH here on Sunday.

Satyanarayana said the police were also keen on knowing his part in the agitation that followed the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula.

The professor also questioned the law on the issue of house arrest. “Varavara Rao also spoke to Prashanth Bhushan on this issue. Rao was advised not to speak to media as the house arrest is nothing but jail, where one is not allowed to speak with Press,” he added. However, he said that relatives, lawyers and doctors were allowed inside the home.

Meanwhile, EFLU Teachers Association has strongly condemned the arrest of Professor Satyanarayana. Satyanarayana. In a statement, they said that the policemen entered the university campus without the permission of any statutory officer. “Prof. Satyanarayana and his family were kept under house arrest and prevented from meeting their family members. We see this as part of a larger plan to silence secular, progressive and democratic voices across India. The association demands an inquiry into the blatant fabrication of charges, and return personal belongings and research materials of the professor immediately,” the statement read.