Morally Bankrupt Government losing battle of Ideas

The battle to control Maoism has reached the Tihar jail’s barracks.

Exasperated prison authorities are thinking of changing Maoist ideologue Khobad Ghandy’s ward after every two months because he has been propagating ultra-Left ideology among fellow inmates.

Ghandy, 63, has built a captive audience inside Jail No. 3 at Tihar, his home for the past 11 months. He meets fellow inmates, who revere him, every day during his morning and evening walks and often holds “interactive sessions”.

He tells them he had fought for the poor throughout his life and that the government had failed to do anything for the people. The prisoners salute him after every session.
“He is a very good man. He is fighting for the poor and we respect him a lot,” said a 35-year-old inmate of Jail No. 3, a Class X dropout who is facing trial for attempted murder.

Another prisoner, arrested in a blast case in Uttar Pradesh, said: “He (Ghandy) is a very well-read man. He talks of revolution and makes us feel we too should do something for the country.”

Ghandy, a CPI (Maoist) politburo member, was arrested in September 2009 and booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

An inmate of Jail No. 1, who met Ghandy three days ago at a basketball match in the prison, said: “We address him as ‘Sir’ and salute him whenever we see him. We can’t understand why the government is holding him in jail as though he is a terrorist.”

The convict, serving a life term for murdering a relative, added: “I am paying for what I did, but people like Sir should not be treated this way. We are fans of his. He speaks from the heart about the injustices suffered by the poor. We support him for his movement against the government.”

Ghandy’s rising popularity among fellow prisoners is worrying Tihar authorities. A jail official said around 1,500 prisoners — 100 convicts and 1,400 undertrials — were lodged in the 12 wards in Jail No. 3. Ghandy shares his ward with many other prisoners.

“He loves mixing with people and has made several friends inside the jail. But of late his conversation has acquired revolutionary overtones,” the official said. “We are thinking of changing his ward every two months and keeping a watch on his morning and evening walks.”

The official, however, agreed that Ghandy, who is from an upper class background and went to the best educational institutions, was a thorough gentleman.

“He is very enthusiastic and agile for his age. During the basketball match, he was joking with jail officials about many things,” said jail superintendent Vijay Kumar Sharma.

Ghandy had studied at Doon School and St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, before travelling to London to become a chartered accountant. A few years later, he joined the Maoists. He is now believed to be writing a book on his life.

Source - Telegraph

Maoist Leader Hosagadda Prabha escapes from Karnataka Cops Net

BANGALORE: A Naxal leader, wanted in a number of cases, gave the police a slip after getting treated at a private city hospital.

A senior police officer told Express that Hosagadde Prabha is "still alive and nothing has happened to her during the treatment".

Her Naxal comrades led the police to believe that Prabha had died in the hospital due to dengue fever on August 18. The police thought that the cadres had somehow removed the body from the hospital and cremated it in an unknown location. Even a section of the media fell for that story.

The police officer admitted that the intelligencegathering system, believing in her 'death', could not trace her movement. Thus, the police had failed to arrest her while she was undergoing treatment.

But that was just a cookedup story. "She was admitted as Susheela for treatment and getting better, she vanished from the hospital giving the police the slip," he said.

Sources said Prabha escaped just a day before police got wind of her presence in Bangalore.

Prabha has been an active Naxal leader in the Western Ghats area for more than 10 years.

The state police has announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh for her arrest. "We don't have sufficient evidence to prove whether she is dead of alive. So, I cannot comment on this issue," said A R Infant, ADGP (Law and Order).

There are 26 cases registered against her at Sringeri, Aldur, Balehonnur and Jayapura police stations.

Prabha, also known as Netra, Vindhu, Sandhya and Madhu, belongs to Hosagadde village of Thirthahalli in Shimoga, and is the wife of B G Krishnamurthy, the frontline cadre of Naxals in the state.

"The Shimoga police did not have any evidence of her death but believed that she was dead," said a police officer.

About Prabha Prabha, a Bunt, married Krishnamurthy, after they went underground following their close association with the Naxal leader Saket Rajan, who was gunned down in a police encounter in February 2005. She has been active as a naxal leader in Western Ghat area for more that 10 years. She joined 'Mahila Jagruthi' a voluntary organisation, and fought for women's empowerment. Prabha also took part in various people's movements such as 'Tunga Ulusi' (Save River Tunga) and the Kudremukh agitation by the indigenous Adivasis. A firebrand, she joined the Red Brigade after she met Saket and Krishnamurthy. The state police already had announced Rs 5 lakh reward for her arrest. A total of 26 cases were registered against Prabha at Shringeri, Aldur, Balehonnur and Jayapura police stations. She is accused in the Gandaghatta Venkatesh murder, Thanikodu checkpost destruction, vandalising Kerekatte Forest Office and Matholli blast.

Another Maoist Leader arrested

Top Maoist leader arrested in Jharkhand

Bokaro(Jharkhand),Aug 8 (PTI) A top Maoist leader hailing from Andhra Pradesh who carries a reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head was today arrested from here. Narasimha Reddy, the 'secretary' of CPI(Maoist) in Andhra Pradesh, was apprehended when a joint team of CRPF and state police raided his hideout at Relibera village following a tip-off, Superintendent of Police (SP) Saket Kumar Singh said.

Reddy alias 'Langada' was held from a house in Upper Ghat of Gomia area and is wanted in many cases in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, the CRPF officer said. The forces also recovered arms, ammunition, a laptop, certain documents and cash from him.

Maoist Leader held in Ranchi

In a revelation that has Jharkhand cops looking afresh at the foreign links of outlawed Maoists, top CPI (Maoist) leader Rajesh Kumar Sinha alias Udaiji has told interrogators that he has a girlfriend based in the UK.

A member of the Bihar-Jharkhand-North Chhattisgarh Special Area Committee of the CPI (Maoist), Udaiji carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head. Captured by the Ranchi police from an apartment flat in the posh Lower Burdwan Compound in the city on Wednesday, he has told cops he is "emotionally attached" with his girlfriend whom he met four years ago and who works for a social organization.

Denying that he ever went on an overseas travel, the rebel leader told cops he has dated the woman in her 30s at least thrice in different parts of the country, including once in Delhi.

"Udaiji holds a masters degree in Economics from Patna University and speaks fluent English. Befriending the English woman might not have been a difficult task for him," a police officer associated with the interrogation said and added the rebel leader claimed to have given an Indian name, Jhanvi, to his love interest.

Udaiji, who had been in constant touch with Jhanvi through the internet, also told cops that the Maoist ideology fascinated his woman and she had expressed willingness to mobilise support for the rebels in the UK's civil society.

Udaiji's interrogators are now quizzing him on whether or not he secured funds from the UK for the Maoist movement. "We are also scanning his email accounts, blogs and chat history as well as bank accounts to cross-check his confessions," another police officer said.

Udaiji has two daughters. One of them has done BTech from a Ludhiana engineering college while the other recently finished her plus two. His younger brother works in the United States while his elder brother works with the finance department of Bihar government. Udaiji himself once aspired to join civil services, but could not crack the exam.

Police officials describe Udaiji as a prized catch who was the mastermind behind most of the Naxalite attacks in Jharkhand, Bihar and parts of Chhattisgarh. He gave police the slip several times even though he extensively moved in the three states, said a cop who was tracking him for the last two years.

Ranchi SSP Praveen Singh refused to divulge details of the disclosures made by Udaiji. "He has made several astonishing, serious and new revelations," the SSP told TOI on Saturday.


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The Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ranchi/Captured-Maoist-sings-says-he-has-girlfriend-in-UK/articleshow/6272098.cms