Maoist leader Usman arrested
The Hindu
Wanted in a UAPA case, he has been on the run since 2019
The anti-terror squad of the State police arrested Maoist leader Usman Melethil on Tuesday. He was wanted in connection with a UAPA case involving Allan Shuhaib and Thaha Fazal registered at Pantheerankavu in Kozhikode in November 2019.
However, there were conflicting reports about the time and place of his arrest. Although the police selectively leaked to the media that Usman was arrested from Pattikkad, near Perinthalmanna, on Tuesday, sources indicated that he had been picked up on Monday from another location.
Usman was taken to a police camp at Areekode for questioning. Several senior officers have reached the camp to grill him. Tribal sources said that Usman was seen at Kakkadampoyil, Thirunelli and Mepadi areas in recent months.
Hampi, the UNESCO-recognised historical site, was the capital of the Vijayanagara empire from 1336 to 1565. Foreign travellers from Persia, Europe and other parts of the world have chronicled the wealth of the place and the unique cultural mores of this kingdom built on the banks of the Tungabhadra river. There are fine descriptions to be found of its temples, farms, markets and trading links, remnants of which one can see in the ruins now. The Literature, architecture of this era continue inspire awe.
Unfurling the zine handed to us at the start of the walk, we use brightly-coloured markers to draw squiggly cables across the page, starting from a sepia-toned vintage photograph of the telegraph office. Iz, who goes by the pronouns they/them, explains, “This building is still standing, though it shut down in 2013,” they say, pointing out that telegraphy, which started in Bengaluru in 1854, was an instrument of colonial power and control. “The British colonised lands via telegraph cables, something known as the All Red Line.”