A local court has extended the custody of Kerala-born Murali Kannampilly, a top leader of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) and his aide, Ismail Hamza for another week following arguments put forth by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).
Special Judge D. M. Deshmukh, who has additional charge of the ATS court, extended custody till May 21.The duo was nabbed by the ATS and the Pune police from Talegaon Dabhade outside Pune city on May 8.
The ATS claimed it needed he extension to probe the duo’s financial backers and secure information about their aides. According to the prosecution’s claim, the 62-year-old Kannampilly, known by his nom de guerre Ajith brought out the online edition of the banned magazine People’s March from his refuge in Talegaon Dabhade which propagated Maoist ideology.
The magazine, which informs about the Maoist revolutionary movement in India, first appeared in print and online in 1999 and was edited and published by the journalist P. Govindan Kutty from Kerala. In 2007 the Indian government shut down the online version and arrested Mr. Kutty, who was later released following public outrage. However, a combination of steady government pressure and Mr. Kutty's ill-health led to its publication being halted in 2012.
In June 2014, the magazine, however, resurfaced in its online avatar put out by anonymous editors, believed by the prosecution to be Kannampilly.
The prosecution charged Kannampilly alias Ajith with “using this medium to convey to his colleagues to carry out further attacks.” It further claimed that he had been using five different cell phones, each containing a different SIM card registered under different names. The ATS reiterated that Mr. Kannampilly was a secretary of the proscribed CPI (Maoist) and a close aide of present general secretary Mupalla Laxman Rao alias Ganapathy.
Meanwhile, on being asked by judge Deshmukh, Ajith complained that the ATS, which had arrested him and kept him in custody for the last eight days, was yet to reveal the charges against him.
The remand hearing was attended by V.C. Jenny, Kannampilly’s ex-wife from whom he has been separated for the past 11 years. Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, Ms. Jenny said that believing in an ideology was not a crime.
“He [Ajith] has not committed any crime, not even a petty one. As an Indian citizen, he has a right to believe in an ideology and write about what he believes in,” she said. The hearing was also attended by C.P. Rasheed, a secretary of the Kochi-based Maoist outfit Porattam , who turned out to be Mr. Hamza’s brother and C.A. Ajithan, joint convener, Porattam.
Mr. Rasheed claimed his brother was wrongly implicated as he was merely looking after a senior citizen [Ajith].
