Prolonged incarceration without trial amounts to infringement of the right to life under the Constitution, the Bombay high court said while urging a special court to expedite the trial in the 2018 Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.
Earlier on Monday, two women Naxalites were killed and one CoBRA jawan was injured in an encounter during the same operation, they said.
The Supreme Court of India has expressed concern over the protracted trials in heinous offences related to Maoist activities, stating that indefinite incarceration violates the right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution. Two separate benches of the court granted relief to two accused, citing the delayed trials. One bench expedited the trial of a man accused of transporting ammunition for a banned organization, while the other granted bail to a man accused of transporting materials for Naxal activities. The court emphasized the importance of speedy trials and suggested the establishment of special courts to handle Maoist-related cases, aiming to expedite proceedings. The court also criticized the practice of examining an excessive number of witnesses, which can lead to indefinite delays in the conclusion of trials.
An NIA spokesperson said several digital devices, including mobile phones, SIM cards and memory cards, along with incriminating documents like pamphlets of the proscribed Naxal outfit were seized during the searches.
More than two decades after deserting their village due to Maoists, around 25 tribal families are planning to return to their native place in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district.
One of the deceased was identified as Cherla local organisation squad commander Rajesh while the identity of the other was being ascertained, the police added.
Rao's history includes arrests in 2000 by Sahadha police of Nandurbar district and subsequent releases, as well as an underground stint in 2002, leading to his arrest by Malkanoor PS police of Karnataka in 2005.
A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia said the actual involvement of Gonsalves and Ferreira in any terrorist act has not surfaced from any third-party communications.
Deva recently replaced Hidma as commander of the Maoists' battalion no. 1, the IG added.
The Maoists have warned that if the government does not stop unfairly targeting them and charging false cases against them, what happened in Kochi at the Jehovah's Witnesses convention can be expected during the 'Hamas rally of fake comrades' in the district, an official said.
During the operation, members of the proscribed People's Liberation Front of India opened fire at approaching security personnel and the law enforcers retaliated, he said.
Gautam Navlakha, an accused in Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, was released from Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai on Saturday evening and will live under house arrest for a month.
Police seized condoms, contraceptive pills and pregnancy test kits from a Maoist hideout following an exchange of fire with red rebels on Odisha-Chhattisgarh border, a senior officer said in Nabarangapur on Thursday.
'A prohibition is not going to have any influence on our party's activities. In fact, it will only infuse into us a new sense of grit to counter the government opposition,' says Gour Chakraborty, the CPI (Maoist) spokesman.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday arrested a top Maoist leader as it carried out raids at 62 locations across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the Communist Party of India-Maoist conspiracy case, an official said.
'The strategy of frontal organisations of the Maoists is to create unrest and ensure that such unrest leads to a law and order problem.' 'To cover such acts it was necessary to bring in a different definition of unlawful activities which is different from the definition of unlawful activities in the UAPA.'
With Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Front government in West Bengal not readily implementing the ban imposed on Communist Party of India-Maoist, Congress on Wednesday accused the Marxist party of "double speak" and warned if state governments implement Central laws "selectively", it would lead to "constitutional chaos."
The Centre on Monday said it banned Communist Party of India-Maoist as a terror organisation to avoid any ambiguity after the merger of Communist Party of India-(Marxist Leninist) Liberation and Maoist Communist Centre in 2004.
The Centre's ban on the Communist Party of India-Maoist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act on Monday would make the outfit more aggressive, according to Left Front partners.
The Communist Party of India - Maoist on Thursday rubbished charges leveled by the Communist Party of India Marxist, that the Trinamool Congress was patronising Maoists, saying the Left Front party was trying to keep itself afloat by making such allegations. "There is no need for us to have the CPI-M or the Trinamool Congress as allies," Maoist leader Kishenji said while reacting to the CPI-M's allegations that the outfit was protected by the TC.
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai on Monday rejected the bail plea of human rights activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Elghar Parishad-Maoist links case.
Three battalions of the Border Security Force comprising more than 3,000 personnel will move across the border from Odisha to Chhattisgarh and an equal number of Indo-Tibetan Border Police units will further move into the Naxal stronghold of Abujhmad as part of a strategy to intensify anti-Maoist operations in their last bastions, official sources said.
The Bombay high court in its judgment granting bail to activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, has noted that there was no material on record to infer prima facie that he conspired to or committed any terrorist act.
The Chhattisgarh police, however, said the claim seemed to be an attempt to mislead the local population, and the security forces never compromise on the safety of the local people during their operations.
According to a media report published on Saturday, only one of the outfits to which eight of the arrested activists belonged was declared as unlawful.
The Bombay high court on Monday rejected the bail plea filed by Delhi University's associate professor Hany Babu, who is an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.
The case pertains to the organisation of Elgar Parishad in Pune on December 31, 2017 which promoted enmity between various caste groups and led to violence, resulting in the loss of life and property and statewide agitation in Maharashtra, an NIA spokesperson said.
A 42-year-old suspected Maoist, who was wanted in the murder of a senior police officer 12 years ago, has been arrested in the capital. The police on Friday claimed that Maoist Pradeep Kumar Singh was hiding in a nearby township for the past three months after security forces intensified action in his state. Pradeep Kumar Singh, an active member of the People's War Group, was arrested.
The members of the insurgent groups -- United Liberation Front of Assam, National Democratic Front of Boroland, Rabha National Liberation Front, Kamtapur Liberation Organisation, Communist Party of India-Maoist, National Santhal Liberation Army, Adivasi Dragon Fighters and National Liberation Front of Bengali -- joined the mainstream in front of Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal at a programme.
The bandh was called by Left parties in protest against CAA and NRC. It is being supported by several small political parties of the state.
Alarmed over unabated Naxal violence, the Centre and the state governments have decided to go after the top leadership of the Communist Party of India - Maoist through intelligence based operations. The decision was taken at a special session of chief ministers of Naxal affected states -- held in Delhi on Wednesday -- in the wake of the May 25 bloodbath in Chhattisgarh's Bastar that left 27 people, including top state Congress leaders, dead.
Major urban centres, including the national capital, may witness targeted killings by Maoists in coming months as the ultras are looking for opportunities to carry out violence, intelligence reports have warned.
Recent court decisions have granted 'political prisoner' status to arrested Maoists. Bibhu Prasad Routray examines how that decision will affect India battle to control the Maoist menace.
In one of the biggest encounters in the recent times with the Maoists, involving the Andhra Pradesh police and Central paramilitary forces, 10 left-wing ultras were killed while scores of others were injured.
Ten Maoists were killed in an encounter with a splinter group of the Communist Party of India-Maoist near a village of Chatra district, police said on Thursday.
Rejecting an offer made by Odisha police, top Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda on Saturday said he has no plan to surrender as being speculated.
In the first of a 5-part series, Ganapathy talks about the birth of revolutionary movement, its struggles and the way it has learnt its lessons with passing time.
Abduction for the release of jailed Maoists is becoming a trend in Odisha. Considering the almost habitual surrender of various state governments to their demands, extremists will use this tactic regularly, says Bibhu Prasad Routray.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances