Mumbai, May 11: Special economic zones, atrocities on Dalits and the Nandigram violence find prominence in propaganda literature retrieved from four alleged Naxalites arrested two days ago.

Director-general of police P.S. Pasricha confirmed that information gleaned from the quartet, who include a Mumbai-based man, indicated that SEZs planned in Maharashtra were the Maoists’ new targets.

The men were arrested by Nagpur police from Deekshabhoomi, the place where B.R. Ambedkar and thousands of his followers converted to Buddhism in 1956.

It was revealed that the Maoists were planning violent protests in the state on the issue of Dalit atrocities. They wanted to use the Khairlanji killings and the 10th anniversary of the Ramabai firing to rouse Dalit emotions.

The desecration of an Ambedkar statue in Mumbai’s Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar slum had sparked clashes on July 11, 1997, in the area. Ten persons died when the police fired on protesters.

“The propaganda literature shows they are writing a great deal about this issue and are planning protests on the 10th anniversary of the Ramabai firing. They had constituted an action committee to implement it,” Pasricha said.

Booklets seized from the arrested Maoists contain an open letter by their leader Sushil Roy, lodged in a Calcutta jail, to Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee over SEZs.