HC acquits 3 alleged Maoist activists

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Friday acquitted three alleged Maoist activists, who were awarded life imprisonment for sedition charges by Jhargram Court in 2005. Sushil Roy, one of the three activists, had died during the course of hearing of their appeal at the court.

A division bench comprising Justice Sanjib Banerjee

and Justice Suvra Ghosh acquitted the three persons of all charges that were leveled against them. The trio had moved the High Court challenging the order of the lower court in 2006.

"The prosecution failed to prove the charges against them at the Calcutta High Court and this led to their acquittal with no condition imposed upon them," said Amartya Ghosh, the defence lawyer.

He added that Sushil Roy, Patitpaban Haldar and Santosh Debnath were arrested from Jhargram in the then Maoist-affected Jangalmahal area in 2005, for allegedly inciting people for armed struggle to overthrow the elected government in the state.

The police did not recover any arms from their possession but seized some

Maoist literature from the trio. They slapped Arms Act upon them and claimed to have seized gelatin sticks

and ammunition from a

rented apartment in Hooghly district.

However, Ghosh submitted before the division bench that the police's claims regarding ammunition and gelatin sticks were false.

The sessions court in Jhargram found them guilty of sedition charges and guilty under Arms Act and sentenced them to life imprisonment in 2005.