The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended the house arrest of five rights activists till September 17. The petition by historian Romila Thapar and others challenged the arrests of Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonzalves, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bhardwaj and Gautam Navlakha. The apex court will hear the petition seeking their release on September 17.
The five activists were arrested last month by Pune police in multi-city raids for suspected Maoist links.
Last week Maharashtra Police told the Supreme Court that there were serious criminal offences against the arrested persons based on evidence they had obtained from electronic devices. They also said that there were evidences to show that the arrested persons were planning to destabilise society.
[Cover photograph of Varavara Rao after his arrest last month]
