K’taka: Special court remands 6 surrendered Maoists to judicial custody till Jan 30
Bengaluru: A Special NIA Court here on Thursday remanded the six surrendered Maoists to judicial custody till January 30.
The team led by Chikkamagaluru Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Balaji Singh had produced the surrendered Maoists before Judge Gangadhar after conducting their medical tests at the Victoria Hospital here.
The Maoists, who surrendered on Wednesday in the presence of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, will be shifted to the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru.
Tight police security was arranged on the court premises ahead of presenting them before the judge.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday welcomed the surrendered Maoists into the mainstream by offering them roses and copies of the Indian Constitution at his home office, ‘Krishna’, in Bengaluru.
With the surrender of the six Maoists, the Congress-led government has declared Karnataka a Left-Wing Extremism (LWE)-free state.
Mundagaru Latha from Mundagaru in Sringeri; Vanajakshi from Balehole in Kalasa; Sundari from Kutluru near Mangaluru; Marappa Jayanna Aroli from Raichur; Vasantha T. aka Ramesh from Tamil Nadu; and T.N. Jeesha from Kerala surrendered in the presence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
According to police sources, Mundagaru Latha faces 85 cases, Sundari 71, Marappa Aroli 50, Vanajakshi 29, Vasantha 8, and Jeesha 17 cases.
The Karnataka BJP has questioned the Congress government in the state for offering royal treatment to Maoists and facilitating their surrender.
The Office of the Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate of Chikkamagaluru has ordered the release of a Rs 3 lakh subsidy for each of the surrendered Maoists under the Surrender-cum-Rehabilitation scheme for Left-Wing Extremists.
Among the identified eight Maoists in Karnataka, Vikram Gowda was encountered and six of them have surrendered.
Ravindra is the only Maoist who is still at large.
Ravindra, hailing from Sringeri in Chikkamagaluru district, faces 14 cases, and he has not come in touch with the groups working towards bringing Maoists to the mainstream of society.
Police sources said that Ravindra has remained untraceable for 18 years.