info india press - about the illegal detention of Murali and Ismail - Roopesh and the restriction jail visits

Police custody of Maoist leader extended
Murali Kannampilly held on May 8 A local court has extended the custody of Kerala-born Murali Kannampilly, a top leader of the 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 the 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 as 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.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/police-custody-of-maoist-leader-extended/article7215401.ece
Karnataka, Kerala police to take suspected Maoist into custody
COIMBATORE: The suspected Maoist leader Roopesh would be taken to Kodagu district in Karanataka from Coimbatore central prison on Sunday in connection with a case. He would be produced before a judicial magistrate court at Ponnampet in Kodagu on Monday. Meanwhile, the Kannur district police in Kerala too obtained a prisoner transit warrant from a judicial magistrate court, which directed prison authorities to produce Roopesh before it on May 20. Prison authorities said the Kodagu district police obtained the prisoner transit warrant from Ponnampet judicial magistrate court and the order copy was served to Coimbatore central prison authorities.
As per the order, the Maoist leader Roopesh should be produced before the court on May 18 in connection with a case. Immediately he would be remanded in judicial custody. If the police approach the court for police custody of Roopesh, the court may grant it, sources said. Two weeks ago, Maoist leader Roopesh, his wife Shyna and three other accomplices were arrested by the Q branch (rural) police in Coimbatore district and they were questioned for 10 days while in police custody. The five, including two hailing from Tamil Nadu, were accused of instigating villagers to an armed attack against authorities. Police alleged Roopesh confessed to masterminding an attack on a stone quarry at Nedumpoil in Kannur district in Kerala.
He would be produced before the Kannur court on May 20 or later. The Kannur district police plan to take him into police custody for five days. Kannur district police alleged that the five Maoists attacked New Bharat Stone crusher unit and set fire to the company’s office on January 2, 2015. The five-member Maoists squad dressed in military fatigues was involved in the attack, they said. They gang away a hard disc and damaged CCTV cameras on the campus. Following the incident, CPI (Maoist) claimed responsibility for the attack. Meanwhile, the Wayanad police too planned to approach the courts for obtaining prisoner transit warrant against Roopesh and his accomplices. “We have 12 cases against Roopesh and his accomplices in Wayanad district. After the Kannur district police investigation, we will take the five men into custody in connection with our case,” said a senior police officer.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Karnataka-Kerala-police-to-take-suspected-Maoist-into-custody/articleshow/47314440.cms
Govt draws flak for restricting jail visits
KOLKATA: Rights organizations have criticized the state government for its move to prevent high-risk prisoners from meeting “friends”. The jails department has restricted access to such prisoners following home department inputs that they could “hatch conspiracies against senior leaders”. Activists and rights groups slammed the circular calling it illegal. “It is against the law. Without amending the law, such circular can’t be passed,” said vice-president of Association for Protection of Democratic Rights Ranjit Sur. The government’s move goes against the West Bengal Correctional Services Act, 1992, they say. According to Section 51(1) of the Act, “Every prisoner shall have the right to have such number of interviews with his friends and relatives, not being less than one in a month.”
The Act also allows prisoners to meet legal representatives. But, a circular issued in December last year, which prisons have begun implementing recently, has struck off the word “friends” from the list of people allowed to meet prisoners marked as high risk. The idea was to restrict “communication with frontal organizations” of banned outfits such as CPI-Maoist. “Often, members of these organizations met Maoists as friends,” said a jail official.

The state security establishment reportedly collected inputs that such meetings provided high-risk prisoners channels of communication with outside world. “It is suspected that some prisoners were plotting conspiracies during such meetings,” said a senior officer. The restriction applies to around 450 prisoners. The circular is meant primarily for those convicted or charged for involvement in terrorist activities, sedition and waging war against the state. In protest against the circular, six Maoists went on a hunger strike in Dum Dum central jail last week.