Police claim Naxals raise funds in Mumbai'

Where are Naxalites raising funds? If the narco analysis test confessions of an alleged Naxal sympathiser are to be believed, the Naxalites allegedly extort money from businessmen in Mumbai and even take protection money from the city's dabbawallahs, the army of individuals who ferry lunch boxes to Mumbai's working population.

These disclosures were reportedly made by Arun Pereira, who the police accuse of being a Naxal ideologue; he was arrested in Nagpur last year.

One newspaper reported that Pereira has told his father in a letter that the information released after the narco analysis test conducted on him in Bangalore was fabricated.

The police claim that Pereira revealed during the narco analysis test that the Naxalite movement in Maharashtra also received funds from trade unions and a regional party. The services of the Naxals were used during strikes and rallies, Pereira allegedly mentioned during the test.

This was the second narco test conducted on Pereira, a native of Mumbai. The first was conducted at the Mumbai Forensic Lab, but the police felt those results were not satisfactory. Pereira has threatened to take the authorities to court for 'fabricating' the results of the second test.