The arrested was identified as Dr Dinesh alias Chinna Dinesh. A 10-member Anti-Terror Squad from Kerala reached Coimbatore on Thursday and carried out searches at three places before whisking away the doctor to Kerala. 

The team carried out searches at the houses of one Parthipan at Ukkadam, and one Rajesh on Chungam bypass, and a hospital on Thadagam Road at Edayarpalayam. Dr Dinesh was arrested from the hospital, sources said.

Both Dinesh and Parthipan had in the past drawn police attention after they were booked for sticking pro-Naxal posters in Coimbatore. 

Sources said the doctor was actively involved in propagating the Maoist ideology and had even taken part in a Naxal camp in 2016 in Nilambur, Kerala. At that time Kerala police had registered a case and he was arrested on Friday based on a warrant issued by a court in Kerala.