Chennai: Pen drive meant for jailed Maoists had porn in it

Chennai: A day after two rights activists from Kerala, including the brother of naxal activist C.P. Moideen, were arrested in Coimbatore for allegedly trying to hand over a pen drive to the jailed Maoist in Coimbatore, sources here on Tuesday said that the flash drive had a porn film in it.  

Based on a complaint from jail officials, C.P. Rasheed, brother of Moideen and Harihara Sharma, both members of a Kerala-based rights outfit, were arrested by Race Course police station after they were caught with the pen drive in jail.

“The two had brought clothes for Anoop, a naxal activist of Kerala who is lodged in Coimbatore Central jail as a remand prisoner after he was arrested in 2015. In the clothes, the jail staff found a pen drive hidden in a secret pocket in the pants meant for Anoop,” sources here said.

“Though the two tried to create ruckus at the prison, we arrested and remanded them,” a senior police officer said. Moideen, leader of a branch of the Maoist group in Kerala called Varahini Dal, is believed to be currently hiding in the tri-junction forest comprising parts of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.

The Coimbatore police team, which opened the pen drive and downloaded the files, found it contained pornography. “We don't know if the blue film was used to hide some other files. We have sent the pen drive to the forensic lab to have a detailed look,” sources said here.

Police also noted that it was also possible that the Maoist sympathisers were experimenting with the jail regulations.

“They may be checking if they can hand over a pen drive to Anoop without being detected by the jail staff. After receiving the drive from one person, he can also hand over the same to some other person who is visiting him,” sources noted.

The organisation Janakeeya Manushyavakasha Prasthanam, to which the two arrested men belonged, said that the Coimbatore police slapped a false case against its two members.