On Monday, opposing the bail application of the five accused activists in the Bhima-Koregaon case Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira and Sudha Bharadwaj, in the Bhima Koregaon case, the prosecution submitted ‘intercepted email communications’ exchanged between top CPI (Maoist) fugitive leader Ganapathy aka Chandrasekhar and Varavara Rao as per reports.
As told by the prosecution to the court, the emails were exchanged after the five activists Shoma Sen, Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale were arrested on June 6.
Public prosecutor Ujjwala Pawar, arguing before Sessions Judge K D Vadane opposing the bail applications of the accused persons, told the court that the email communication reveals that the top leaders in CPI (Maoist) Central Committee (CC) were concerned after the arrest of the five and Chandrashekhar alias Ganapathy, who she claimed was the general secretary of CPI (Maoist), had asked Rao how the letters were leaked.
Quoting the content of an email claimed to be written to Rao by Ganapathy on July 4, Pawar said, “The CC has received a news-clip of some communication that was leaked immediately after the arrests. The point of great concern is how exactly the letters were leaked and how the letters got in the hands of the police. We need to put efforts to understand the full scale of this breach and the methods of the intelligence agencies.”
“Please ensure the confidentiality of this communication channel and any report or message sent outside of the secured network through the microchip must be encrypted with a password,” said Pawar, quoting the mail.
Ganapathy in the mail told Rao that the committee is seeking a report from him as quoted by Pawar, “It is better to use multiple keys for the future correspondence. The CC also expects your report on the assessment of the damage caused by the police action.”
Further quoting the content of the email Pawar said that Ganapathy told Rao that after the recent arrests from Delhi and Maharashtra, CC is concerned and said that the “urban movement” is facing a lot of difficulties for last several years.”In the backdrop of all these events, the CC wants your suggestions to formulate a short and long-term action plan,” Pawar quoted.
Quoting the email conversation, Pawar said, “The five arrests have caused a lot of damage to the movement and some urgent steps are needed to boost the morale of the cadre”. Responding to defence’s claim that these seized letters are fabricated, Pawar said, “This email communication of banned outfit showing concerns about the actions proves that the seized letters are genuine”.
Pawar cited another email communication which she claimed was Rao’s reply to Ganapathy.
Pawar also referred to another email allegedly sent by Varavara Rao to Ganapathy on July 14 in which Rao had reportedly said that in coming days, he will be sending a detailed report on his assessment of the breach. He had also reportedly mentioned that he does not know how to set up multiple PGP keys but he will take the help of one of the students. (PGP or Pretty Good Privacy is an encryption programme to provide cryptographic privacy and authentication for data communication).
Pawar said that Rao also wrote in the mail that he will put rules in place for using personal mobiles and computers. Rao had expressed concerns about how the intelligence agencies managed to access a confidential file by the name of “final dispatch.pgp” containing the details of the arms to be smuggled through Nepal, Manipur and Kolkata corridors.
The hearings have continued today and the court is yet to pronounce decision over the bail pleas. It is notable here that in another round of crackdown, the Maharashtra police had arrested 6 more alleged urban Maoists, Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves, Gautam Navlakha, Arun Pereira and Stan Swamy on August 28.
