TMC leader Chhatradhar Mahato grilled by NIA for second consecutive day

Mahato said he has moved the Calcutta High Court and informed Trinamool Congress leadership about the developments.
Chhatradhar Mahato
Chhatradhar Mahato

JHARGAM: Trinamool Congress leader and former convenor of Maoist-backed PCAPA, Chhatradhar Mahato was Saturday grilled for the second consecutive day by National Investigation Agency (NIA) in two 11-year-old cases of train hijack and murder of a CPI(M) leader, sources said.

He was grilled by NIA officials for three hours in the CRPF camp at Salboni in West Midnapore, where he had arrived at 9 am.

Mahato later said he was questioned in connection with the October 2009 hijacking of New Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express from Bhubanesar for five hours at Jhargram station.

"I am fully cooperating with the investigators but I think they (BJP) have dug up an 11-year old case and I am being harassed for my association with a political party (Trinamool Congress)," Mahato told reporters after the interrogation on Saturday.

Mahato said he has moved the Calcutta High Court and informed Trinamool Congress leadership about the developments.

His lawyer Kaushik Sinha said, "We have questions about the legal justification to interrogate Mahato in connection with an 11-year-old case".

Mahato, who was inducted into the TMC state committee in July and given leadership role in the tribal Jangalmahal region, was questioned for hours by a team of NIA officers at the Salboni camp on Friday too.

57-year old Mahato was a prominent leader of the Lalgarh movement that was spearheaded by People''s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) and backed by Maoists in the late 2000s.

He is one of the accused in the killing of a CPI(M) leader in Junglemahal area.

Mahato was arrested on September 26, 2009, from present-day Jhargram district for an alleged attempt on the life of former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in Kantapahari area of West Midnapore district on November 2, 2008.

He was set free in February this year following a reduction of his life term to 10 years by Calcutta High Court for his good conduct.

He has been named in several cases related to alleged Maoist activities with charges levelled under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA.

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