A Delhi University professor was detained by police for his suspected links with Maoists, including arrested leader Khobad Ghandy, police sources said in New Delhi.

Sunil Mandiwal, an assistant professor with Dayal Singh College, was questioned for two hours before he was released, the sources said. Mandiwal's wife Laxmi, also a DU professor, said the team (from Delhi police and Andhra Pradesh police) which picked him up from their house told her that they were taking him for questioning in connection with his links to Kobad Ghandy, arrested in Delhi on September 20 last year.

A colleague of Mandiwal, who spoke to him after he was detained, claimed the professor told him that some books were taken away by the police team. Mandiwal's colleague also claimed his friend was being questioned at Pushp Vihar police station. The teacher is also suspected to have asked one of his students to keep some Naxal literature with him, the sources added.