India - Free Hem Mishra

Court rejects bail plea of ‘Naxal’ Hem Mishra
A sessions court in Aheri has rejected the bail application of Hem Mishra, the first of the three alleged Naxals operatives from New Delhi to be arrested by the Gadchiroli police last year. The police had claimed to have arrested Mishra from the Aheri bus stand in Gadchiroli along with two aides of senior Naxal leader Narmada who were to lead him to Abujmaad forest to meet her. The court ruled that the police had enough material to establish a prima facie case of his involvement in Naxal activities.
Earlier, the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court had denied bail to Delhi University professor G N Saibaba, who was the third person to be arrested by the Gadchiroli police after Mishra and Prashant Rahi. The police had claimed Rahi and Saibaba were arrested on the basis of leads secured during Mishra’s interrogation. Rahi was, however, granted bail by the High Court during the same hearing on the technical ground that the police hadn’t properly explained the documents submitted to it concerning Rahi. Interestingly, while the CPI (Maoist) had reportedly condemned the arrest of Saibaba and Rahi and a bid was made to bail them out, nobody, including any of Mishra’s relatives, had filed bail plea for Mishra. A few days ago, however, the bail plea was pushed by Surendra Gadling, the lawyer who had also argued for Saibaba and Rahi, on behalf of Rahi’s parents. Asked if Mishra would now move the High Court, Gadling said: “His parents will decide.”