Kolkata, Sep 28: A special NIA court here on Monday adjourned hearing in a prayer by the National Investigation Agency for custody of Chhatradhar Mahato, a former leader of the Maoist-backed People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA), after his lawyer submitted that he has tested positive for COVID-19. Mahato’s lawyer told the the court that he is unable to appear as he is in home isolation.
He also submitted that four other accused in the case could not appear before the court since they are in quarantine after coming in contact with Mahato recently. The agency, which has sought custodial interrogation of Mahato and the four others in connection with the killing of a local CPI(M) leader in 2009 at Lalgarh — once a hotbed of Maoist activities in the Jangalmahal area of West Bengal — prayed for order to keep him in house arrest.
Hearing both the parties, NIA special court judge Prasenjit Biswas adjourned the matter till October 10, when it will be taken up again. The NIA has booked Mahato under various sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, apart from waging war against the country.
Mahato was released from prison in 2019 after having served a 10-year sentence in connection with an abortive bid on the life of the then West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in 2008 and several other cases of bombing and landmine blasts.
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