Probe Scrambles to Prove Maoist Links of Jonathan Baud

THRISSUR: Two days after the police took the Swiss national Jonathan Baud into custody  after he allegedly spoke at the remembrance meet of a Maoist leader, the investigation agency has failed to establish his links with  the extremist outfit or his role in any anti-national activities. Despite several rounds of interrogation, the police are yet to get any tangible evidence against him.

DySP P A Varghese,who heads the investigation team, told ‘Express’ that the major problem  faced by the investigation team during interrogation was language barrier. Though he understands English, he only responds in French. He has not been cooperating with us, he said.

“We have cross-checked his travel details in India. He had travelled to Mumbai, Bangalore, Mysore and Bandipore before coming to Kerala. If his intention is righteous, why is he reluctant to respond in English, and why is not cooperating with the probe. It is intriguing, said Varghese. Though his girlfriend Valeria Basson cooperated with the investigation, she was not aware of his trip to Thrissur, he said.

We have already filed a petition in court seeking his custody. The petition would be considered either on Wednesday or Thursday, the police said. At present, he is lodged in the sub-jail at Irinjalakuda till August 12.

The police took the 24-year-old Baud into custody from Triprayar in Thrissur on Monday where he had reached to attend a condolence meeting of Maoist leader Sinoj of Thalikkulam, who was reportedly killed in a bomb explosion at the training camp of the Maoists in Andhra Pradesh while trying to make a bomb on June 16.  Though the organisers have not invited him to the function, he reached the venue and addressed the small gathering with the permission of organisers and hailed the Communist movement here.