A Mumbai school teacher committed suicide days after the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) grilled him and his son for a night for alleged Naxal links, reported The Indian Express.
Prabhakar Macha hanged himself from the ceiling of his bedroom onJanuary 23. His close family friends told the newspaper that the ATS grilling him came as a double blow for him as he was mourning the loss of his wife who died recently.
The ATS grilled him and his son for a night in connection with the arrests of seven alleged members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). They also seized documents from his home in Mumbai’s central suburbs.
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The seven accused have been booked under sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The ATS has said Maoist literature and CDs were recovered from the arrested accused.
According to the FIR registered by the ATS in the case against the seven alleged CPI (Maoist) members, Macha’s name was disclosed by one of the arrested accused. “He (Macha) was a sympathiser but never an active member,” said S Yadgiri, secretary of M-2 Building in Sion’s Prateeksha Nagar where Macha lived with his family, as quoted by the newspaper.
The families of the arrested men have claimed that they were innocent and had no links with any banned outfit or ideology. Statements by them, as quoted by the newspaper, suggested that they suspect their arrest to be part of the police crackdown after the Bhima Koregaon violence.
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The family members said ATS officials had asked them for details of their whereabouts between December 31 and January 2.
