Kolkata, Nov 30 (IANS) Two people suspected to have aided Maoist leader Suchitra Mahato in escaping from security forces were Wednesday sent to seven days’ police custody by a local court, an officer said.
‘Bhudeb Mahato, who had given medical assistance to an injured Suchitra, and Pintu Tudu, who brought her to Mahato, have been sent to seven day’s CID (Criminal Investigation Department) custody. They were arrested Tuesday,’ Deputy Inspector General of Police (CID) K. Jayaraman told IANS.
Mahato, a quack, is believed to have treated Suchitra — an aide of slain Maoist leader Kishenji.
Security forces have been conducting combing operations in and around the jungles of West Midnapore’s Burishole. The forces have claimed that the Maoist politburo member was gunned down in an encounter last Thursday. Kishenji’s bullet-riddled body has raised a controversy with Maoists and rights bodies claiming he was killed in cold blood in police custody.
Both Mahato and Tudu are believed to have helped Suchitra to escape to some safe place, police said.
However, Mahato’s family claimed his arrest was wrongful as he did not know that the patient he was treating was a Maoist.
‘How can he be arrested for treating someone? He never knew the woman was a Maoist. A person from our village (Pintu Tudu) brought her on a bicycle and said she was injured. My father gave an injection and dressed the wounds,’ said Ajay, Mahato’s son.
In a separate incident, a Maoist commander surrendered before the police in Birbhum district.
‘Barun Das, 27, a Maoist commander surrendered before us today. He had joined the Communist Party of India-Maoist in 2007 and has been involved in several cases of violence,’ Superintendent of Police (Birbhum) Nishad Parvez told IANS.
