MUMBAI: Two days after the Supreme Court intervened in the arrest of five human rights activists accused by Pune police of harbouring Maoist links, police claimed they were plotting to overthrow the government and execute an assassination.

In a press conference here on Friday, ADGP (law and order) Parambir Singh insisted there was strong evidence to establish the nexus of the five with outlawed Maoist groups and a plan for a Rajiv Gandhi-style assassination attempt. “We’ve enough evidence to convince the Supreme Court and get custody of the accused,” he said.

Singh said the five activists — Sudha Bharadwaj , Gautam Navlakha , Varavara Rao , Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves — accused of hate speech during the Elgar Parishad following which there was rioting at Koregaon Bhima were part of the “overground” cadre of outlawed Maoist groups and were taking orders from its top central committee leadership, including a leader, “Prakash”.

