Ami’s father Roopesh is a former State secretary of the CPI (Maoist).
He had been in hiding for many years after both he and his wife Shyna were accused of providing shelter to Maoist leader Malla Raji Reddy, who was arrested from Angamali in 2007. Reddy, a central committee member of the organisation, was wanted in many cases, including the murder of former Andhra Pradesh Speaker Sripada Rao.
Roopesh started his political career in the student’s wing of the CPI-ML (Red Flag). He was later with the CPI-ML (Janasakthai) and went on to become member of the CPI-ML (People’s War) before joining CPI(Maoist) and becoming its State secretary.
According to the police, Roopesh was in charge of the resurgent Maoist movement in the Western Ghats region. A video released to the media in 2014 had him claiming support of farmers and tribespeople. Wearing a khaki uniform and slinging an assault rifle, he called for an armed struggle.
Roopesh and Shyna were arrested from Coimbatore in May this year.
— Staff Reporter
