Today, Maoist ideologue and revolutionary writer P Varavara Rao was arrested from his home in Hyderabad for his alleged involvement in a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The arrest came after a raid at his home and the houses of his family members and friends, including a journalist, by the Pune Police.

Nine activists across the country were raided this morning by the Pune Police for alleged Maoist links; five of them have been arrested, including Varavara Rao.

Varavara Rao is likely to be shifted by the police to Pune for questioning.

78-year-old Varavara Rao’s name had cropped up in a letter seized in June by the police during searches on others arrested after the Elgar Parishad event on December 31 last year to commemorate 200 years of the Bhima Koregaon battle in 1818.

The letter, written by a person identified only as “R”, Reportedly Mentions a plot to kill PM Modi on the lines of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The letter also mentions the requirement for Rs. 8 crore to procure a M-4 rifle – a American-made carbine rifle used by the US Army – and four lakh rounds of ammunition to execute the plot. The letter reportedly mentions Varavara Rao’s name.