China Moitra in front of her office. (Prashant Mitra)

Ranchi, July 1: A woman activist, who has been championing the cause of women for the past 24 years, has accused the police of branding her a Naxalite.

China Moitra, the secretary of Mahila Utpidan Virodhi Evan Vikas Samiti — a voluntary organisation that was formed in 1985 — said the Maoist slur was first cast on her by the officer in charge of Lalpur police station, Arvind Kumar.

The police officer made the allegation during verification of tenants at Lok Vihar Colony on June 5, Moitra said. She stays in the colony as a tenant of one Quarban Hawari. “The police have been harassing me since then,” she added.

Speaking to The Telegraph this afternoon, she said that during her 24 years of voluntary service, this was the first time that such an allegation had been made against her. “The officer in charge said that women like me were responsible for incidents like Kathikund and that we were Naxalites. He said that he had met several women like me,” she alleged.

Moitra further said that the police officer also harassed her landowner for giving her shelter. “There are several tenants here, but the police showed particular interest in me. They called up Hawari several times and mounted pressure on him to throw me out. They often summon him to the Lower Bazar and the Lalpur police stations to interrogate him about me,” she alleged.

The house in which Moitra resides serves as the office of Mahila Utpidan Virodhi Evan Vikas Samiti. A retired Botany professor of Ranchi Women’s College, Malancha Ghosh, is the president of the organisation. Congress leader and Union minister Subodh Kant Sahay and his wife Rekha are attached with the samiti, Moitra said.

“Subodhji paid the rent of the house from March to December 2006 while Rekhaji had inaugurated the office. She also provided two sewing machines to the organisation for vocational training of poor women,” Moitra said.

When contacted, the city police superintendent, A.Vijayalaxmi, assured that she would look into the matter if a written complaint was filed. “A woman had called me up this morning, complaining that the police were harassing her. I asked her to come with a written application. I will be able to comment on the matter only after I get the complaint in writing,” she added.

Moitra said she would lodge a complaint tomorrow.

However, Kumar denied the allegations. He said that Moitra was making a molehill out of a mountain. “I had just asked her to provide her resume with a photograph during tenant verification in my area,” he said.