New Delhi, Oct. 21 -- PUCL condemns the arrest of Randall Sequeira and Laxman Naik from Bhawanipatna on the night of October 16.

Theirs is the latest in a series of arrests of Dalit-Adivasi leaders and activists of the movements opposing Vedanta's bauxite mine at Sijimali (referred to as Tijmali by local residents) in Rayagada and Kalahandi districts of Odisha. We demand their immediate release, and an end to the criminalisation of a peaceful, constitutionally protected movement.

Laxman Naik is a Dalit activist with the Ma Mati Mali Suraksha Manch, the main people's movement that is defending the Tijmali, Kutrumali and Khandualmali hills against bauxite mining. He has been key in organising and mobilising local Adivasi communities to defend their land and oppose the forced land acquisition for the Vedanta mine in Tijmali. Randall Sequeira is a doctor who has worked among Adivasi communities in the region and has stood in solidarity with their struggle to defend their land. He is also a member of the Medico Friend Circle and Jan Swasthya Abhiyan.

At around 10:45 pm on October 16, police officials arrived in two jeeps, many in civilian clothes, and entered Sequeira's residence in Bhawanipatna, where Laxman Naik was also present. Their phones were snatched, and they were forcibly taken to the Town Police Station in the middle of the night.

From 6 am on 17 October until 6:30 pm, their whereabouts were unknown to their lawyers, family and friends. They were then produced before the Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) in Rayagada and remanded to 15 days of judicial custody.

At no point at the time of arrest were they told the grounds of their arrest, in writing or otherwise, nor were they allowed to speak to their lawyers. This violates Article 22(1) of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to be informed of the grounds of arrest and to consult a lawyer, and the Supreme Court's repeated directions, including in DK Basu v. State of West Bengal, Pankaj Bansal v. Union of India and Prabir Purkayastha v. State (NCT of Delhi).

Both were arrested in connection with Case No. 85, registered against 26 named and over 100 unnamed persons, relating to incidents around 6 and 7 April 2026. Neither Sequeira nor Laxman Naik are named in the FIR.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.