Many rights activists, including Justice Rajendra Sachar, National Advisory Council (NAC) member Harsh Mander and Prabhakar Sinha condemned the act.
Justice Sachar alleged that Home Minister P Chidambaram is targeting rights workers. He said that the union government had joined hands with state governments to hit out at rights activists because it is unhappy with their opposition to its anti-people policies, including right to food Act.
The Chhattisgarh police was supposedly searching for a Maoist. According to PUCL sources, the alleged Maoist was later arrested by the Chhatisgarh police from south Delhi and she is a social worker.
Rajendra Sachar wanted the government to clarify whether it had any role in this raid.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Justice Sachar demanded that the National Human Rights Commission should ensure that Kavita Shrivastava is not harassed.
Harsh Mander said the state’s fight against Maoists should be within legal boundaries. In a democratic country, there should be injustice against none, including Maoists, he said.
Kavita narrated how early in the morning raid were conduced on her residence and the PUCL office situated nearby, without prior intimation. They pretended to be searching for a Maoist, she said and alleged connivance of the Rajasthan government, which she said was angry with the exposure of its role in recent rights violations and illegal mining.