Judicial Custody for Maoists

Judicial Custody for Maoists

COIMBATORE: The Maoist couple, Roopesh and Shyna, along with three of their comrades in arms, C Kannan, J Anoop and C Veeramani, are to be in judicial custody till July 2.

All five were produced before the First Additional District Judge (in-charge of Principal District Judge), R Sakthivel on Wednesday, after being brought to the city from Kerala amid heavy security.

On May 3, all of them were arrested by the ‘Q’ Branch Police at Karumathampatty and were under judicial custody till June 3. The Internal Security Intelligence Team (ISIT) of the Kerala police were given 10 days custody of Roopesh and Shyna on May 24. They were accused of harbouring another alleged Maoist, Malla Raja Reddy and his wife, Beecha Jagana, at Kanjirakkattu near Perumbavoor in 2007.

In Coimbatore, Roopesh told the judge that they did not give any testimony to the police.  Government Pleader K Arumugam pleaded against taking the five Maoist suspects to other states, as signature samples would have to be collected to compare them with literature and documents seized by the police during the arrests and subsequent investigations. Arumugam said signature samples would be collected after obtaining relevant clearances from the court.

The judge posted the next hearing for July 2. The Kerala police took Roopesh and Shyna back to Kochi, where they are to be produced before courts there on June 9 and 10. The others were taken to the Coimbatore Central Prison. While leaving the prison, the Maoists shouted slogans, reiterating their resolve to continue the struggle and oppose the eviction of tribals from the Eastern Ghats. They also opposed the setting up of a national park in Karnataka.

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