Hyderabad, Aug 30 (IANS): Pune police brought back revolutionary writer P. Varavara Rao to Hyderabad on Thursday, a day after the Supreme Court ordered the police to keep the activists arrested for alleged links with Maoists confined to their homes till September 6.

Varavara Rao, who was arrested on Tuesday, was brought back early on Thursday by a flight and placed under house arrest. Police made tight security arrangements around his house in Gandhi Nagar area.

Rao was taken into custody by a team of the Pune police after eight-hour long searches at his residence and the houses of his family members. His family was told that he was arrested in a case relating to the alleged plot by Maoists to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The police had produced him before a court here and taken him to Pune on a transit remand. The same day four other human rights activists and lawyers were arrested in other parts of the country for alleged links with Maoists.

On a petition by eminent persons, the Supreme Court directed Pune police to place the arrested activists under house arrest till September 6. The apex court observed that democracy could not survive without dissenting voice.

On a habeas corpus petition filed by Varavara Rao's wife Hemalatha, Hyderabad High Court on Wednesday directed police to file affidavits relating to the arrest.

It also asked Pune police to translate papers relating to the case from Marathi to Telugu and make them available to Rao's wife.