Kolkata: Bail applications of Chhatradhar
Mahato, the leader of Maoist-backed PCPA in Lalgarh, and
another leader of the outfit were not pursued and as such
dismissed by the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday.
After several days of hearing of their prayer, former
PCPA convenor Mahato and erstwhile PCPA treasurer Sukhshanti
Baskey lodged in jail under different charges, decided not to
pursue their bail petitions, which were then dismissed by a
division bench comprising Chief Justice J N Patel and Justice
Asim Roy.
The West Bengal government had last week informed the
court that the PCPA (People's Committee against Police
Atrocities) was a front organisation of Maoists and as such a
banned organisation by implication under UAPA.
Public prosecutor Asimesh Goswami stated that PCPA was
supplementing the activities of Maoists in Lalgarh and
adjoining areas in West Midnapore district.
The bail prayers of Raja Sarkhel and Prasun Chatterjee,
from whom Maoist literature and provocative leaflets were
seized, were posted for further hearing on January five.
Sarkhel and Chatterjee, who had also filed separate bail
petitions before the high court and were being heard alongwith
Mahato and Baskey, chose to continue their bail prayers.
While Mahato was arrested from his hideout in Lalgarh by
CID officers posing as journalists on Septmeber 26, 2009, the
others were arrested from different places a few days later.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, December 21, 2010, 20:40