Andhra University professor Appa Rao, arrested for alleged Maoist links

A massive cache of explosives recovered from two people reportedly led the police in Visakhapatnam to Andhra University professor J Appa Rao and dentist Jagadeesh, both arrested yesterday for alleged Maoist links.The police say they zeroed in on the professor after catching contractor Ganapathyraju Subbaraju and mining lease owner Varupari Prasad with 300 kg ammonium nitrate, 500 kg electronic detonators and 100 kg non-electrical detonators and also cell phones on Wednesday night. They were allegedly acting as couriers.The police say their interrogation revealed the alleged role of the professor in supplying explosives to Maoists.Professor Rao was arrested from his home late on Wednesday night at around 1 am. His wife says around 10 people came and took him away.Appa Rao had reportedly spoken to the mine lease owner and contractor to arrange for the transport of the explosives from the Kathipudi area of East Godavari to suspected Maoist hideouts in Visakhapatnam, also known as Vizag.Mr Rao has been a professor of Telugu at Vizag's Andhra University since 2007.On Thursday, his wife Mynavathy, their two young children, and scores of Andhra University students protested against his arrest outside the office of Vizag police chief Koyya Praveen.

Mr Praveen told NDTV that Appa Rao was a close associate and childhood friend of key Maoist leaders in the district and had been in active touch with them for several years, supplying them with essentials and items like torches, flash bulbs, battery and so on.Vizag falls under what the Maoists have labelled AOB, the Andhra-Odisha Border, and the district has a history of Maoist militancy, where they perform strikes this side of the border and escape into Odisha.