New Delhi: CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat on Monday sought President Pratibha Patil's intervention to ensure justice to alleged Naxal sympathiser Soni Sori, saying she was torutured in custody.
Karat, who led a delegation to the President, also asked her to look into the issue of a gallantry medal awarded to the then Dantewada Superintendent of Police Ankit Garg who is alleged to have tortured Sori.
"The President gave us a patient hearing and assured us that she will write to the relevant authorities at the Centre and Chhattisgarh state government," the CPI (M) Politburo member told PTI after meeting Patil.
She alleged that Sori had undergone "custodial torture" and asked the President to have it probed even though it has been prima facie proved during medical tests.
Karat said that an enquiry should be conducted against Garg and how he got the gallantry medal.
A suspected Maoist conduit, Sori has been accused by the police of receiving "protection money" from the Essar group.
She was arrested on October 4 last year in South Delhi by a Chhattisgarh police team and was taken to Dantewada for interrogation.
Essar has denied giving funds to Maoists.
PTI
First Published: Monday, May 14, 2012, 19:06