Mangalore: A PG Students of M4 Journalism Course, Vittal Male Kudiya, arrested by Anti-Naxal Force sleuths on a charge that he was a naxalism sympathiser was innocent, claimed dalit Rights Action committee secretary, Eshwari Padmuja.

She asked the SP to release Vittal on a monthly grievance meeting on Sunday March 4 at the SP’s office. The student from Kuthloor was only a member of an Adivasi Co-ordination Committee, she explained. He had opposed naxalism and demanded benefits for SC/ST people. The arrest would affect Vittal’s studies.

SP Abhishek Goyal responded by saying that Vittal and his father would be freed if they were found innocent.