Court extends police custody of Kobad Ghandy

A Delhi court on Thursday extended the police remand of Kobad Ghandy, a politburo member of the banned Communist Party of India - Maoist, by seven days to facilitate the investigating agency to gather evidence and unravel the designs of the extremist outfit.

In her order, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kaveri Baweja allowed 59-year-old Ghandy's custodial interrogation till October 15.

The court allowed the police plea that more time was needed to extract details of electronic evidence, which was missing, like the hard disk of his laptop. The prosecution also submitted that certain raids had to be conducted.

Public Prosecutor Naveen Kumar pleaded with the court to extend the police custody of Ghandy by 10 days.

Vishal Gosain, appearing for the Maoist leader, opposed the extension of police remand on the ground that charges leveled against him in the FIR were mere speculation.

Earlier, Ghandy was brought in a special bullet and mine-proof vehicle, called 'Rakshak'. His name figures in the list of the three top Maoist leaders whose release was sought by the banned outfit in exchange for Jharkhand police officer Francis Induwar, who was later beheaded by the Maoists.

The court had on October 5 sent Ghandy to three days' police custody. The police had sought the custody of Ghandy on the grounds that he was needed for unearthing the 'whole conspiracy' related to Maoist activities in Delhi.

They had alleged that the accused, who has been arrested under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for being a member of the banned terror organisation, was residing at a rented accommodation in south Delhi and trying to set up a base for Maoists in the capital.

The police claimed to have recovered material, including CDs and laptop, from Ghandy to substantiate its charges that he was actively working for the Maoists. Ghandy allegedly went by nine fake names including Dilip Patel, Narsi, Arvind, Rajan, Katif Ansari and others.

Ghandy, who was in-charge of expanding the proscribed organisation's influence in urban areas, was arrested on September 21 by the special cell of the Delhi police.

He has claimed that he was suffering from prostate cancer and had cardiac problems. He was been referred to the G B Pant Hospital and LNJP Hospital in New Delhi by the court.

Ghandy, who studied in the prestigious Doon School and the Cambridge University, was among the top echelons of the erstwhile Communist Party of India – Marxist Leninist (People's War group). He later became a Central Committee member of the CPI - Maoist after its formation. He became part of the CPI - Maoist Politburo in 2007.