NIA requests custody of Trinamool Congress leader Chhatradhar Mahato. (FILE)
Calcutta:
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday prayed for the custody of Chhatradhar Mahato, a former leader of the Maoist-backed People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA), in a special court.
The agency prayed for the questioning of Mr. Mahato and four others in connection with the murder of a CPI (M) leader in 2009 in Lalgarh, which was a hotbed of Maoist activity in the Jangalmahal area. in West Bengal.
The NIA charged Mr. Mahato, now a leader of the TMC, under various sections of the Illegal Activities (Prevention) Act, in addition to waging a war against the country.
NIA Special Court Judge Prasenjit Bis ordered that the plea hearing be resumed on Monday.
Mr. Mahato did not appear in court for the NIA, which summoned him along with other people, complaining of illness.
Mr Mahato’s attorney, Kaushik Sinha, said the petition requesting his was filed by the NIA on August 26 but a copy of it was not served on his client. So he prayed for the time allowed by the court.
Mr Sinha also said Mr Mahato had been admitted to a hospital in Kolkata and will be tested for COVID-19 tomorrow.
He was released from prison in 2019 after serving a 10-year sentence in connection with an abortive attempt on the life of then-chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in 2008 and several other bomb and mine cases terrestrial.
