india- Roopesh to Continue Hunger Stir in Jail

KOLLAM: Maoist leader Roopesh, who was under police custody for the last five days, said he would continue his hunger strike in the Coimbatore jail as he was not being treated as a political prisoner and were denied the rights of one. The district court on Wednesday sent him back to Coimbatore jail as the police did not seek for an extension of his custody. Roopesh was on hunger strike since he was brought to Kollam on Saturday demanding the authorities to consider Maoists as political prisoners and not terrorists. When asked if he wanted to inform the judge anything, Roopesh said he was not given an opportunity to file a petition before the Coimbatore District Collector seeking removal of UAPA imposed on him.

While being taken out of the court, he shouted slogans seeking withdrawal of draconian laws such as NSA and UAPA.During his stay here, he abstained from having solid food. The court had granted a five-day police custody from Coimbatore jail on Saturday to investigate his links to two other suspected Maoists arrested earlier. Kundara police had in May arrested Remanan, 44, from Sasthamkotta and Anandan, 50, from Kundara for allegedly procuring SIM cards with forged documents. These SIM cards were found to be purchased from a mobile shop in Bharanikkavu. Roopesh allegedly contacted a weapon dealer in Coimbatore using one of those SIM cards procured by Remanan and the call details were finally traced, which led to the arrest of the duo.