BHUBANESWAR: Dreaded Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda was sent in Crime Branch custody for nine days on Wednesday and shifted to Cuttack where he would be interrogated.
The Crime Branch had earlier filed a petition seeking 10-day remand of the left-wing extremist, following his production before the court of Nayagarh Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM).
Panda has been charged in nine cases of attacks and loot at Nayagarh in 2008, which left at least 15 policemen dead. Of this, the Crime Branch got his custody in two cases. The SDJM court laid down certain conditions for the remand and directed that officers quizzing him must introduce themselves before his interrogation.
During his remand at Berhampur, the Maoist leader had lodged a complaint with the court stating that outsiders were quizzing him.
Apart from the Nayagarh attack, the Crime Branch is also probing the Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati murder case. The agency has already submitted a petition before the District and Sessions Court at Phulbani seeking Panda’s custody in that case. Before his production at Nayagarh, Panda was remanded in Berhampur Police custody for 10 days, which ended on July 28.