Police Foils Bid To Kill Hyderabad University V-C To Avenge Vemula’s Suicide, Arrests Two Naxal Alumni

Andhra Pradesh Police has claimed to have foiled a bid to kill Hyderabad Central University Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao Podile to avenge Rohith Vemula’s suicide by arresting two former students of the university.

The two students - Chandan Kumar Misra of West Bengal and A Prudhviraj of Krishna district - were arrested when during the routine search of vehicles at Pitchakulapadu junction on Bhadrachalam-Cherla Road of the city on Friday.

According to the police, the two students had met Communist Party of India (Maoist) State committee secretary Haribhushan in December 2017 and wanted to kill Rao at his behest to avenge the suicide of the research scholar.

“They had discussed their plans to join the CPI (Maoist) and also the situation in the HCU following the suicide by Rohith Vemula,” East Godavari district Superintendent of Police (SP) Vishal Gunni told reporters on Sunday.

“Their plan was to kill the Vice-Chancellor and attract the students to the Maoist organisation. They had planned to drop a letter claiming the responsibility of killing the V-C on behalf of the Maoists”, the SP said.

Vemula had hanged himself in the University guest house in January 2016, triggering a protest by left-leaning students and political activists in the country.