National

Police custody of CPI (Maoist) spokesman extended

KOLKATA: Communist Party of India (Maoist) spokesman Gour Chakraborty, arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, was remanded to police custody until July 18 by Chief Metropolitan Magistrate S.S. Anand at the Bankshal Court here on Monday.This followed the prosecution raising concerns about the serious nature of the offence. It said the accused was also wanted by the police in Lalgarh in another case.

Public prosecutor Satyabhushan Pathak asked the court to grant further police custody as the investigation proved that the accused was a key functionary of the banned CPI (Maoist).

He said that in the course of the investigation, Mr. Chakraborty had made revealing statements that needed verification. “The accused is also wanted by the police in Lalgarh for serious crimes under the Criminal Procedure Code,” he added.

The city court denied defence counsel Tapas Maiti’s plea for bail on account of Mr. Chakraborty’s frail health.

Mr. Maiti said the accused had denied that he was a member of the banned outfit and was merely its spokesman in the State.

The judgment was followed by protests outside the court premises by members of the Bandi Mukti Committee and the Ganapratirodh Manch who demanded an immediate release of Mr. Chakraborty. He was arrested by the Kolkata Police on June 23 outside the office of a private news channel.

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