PUCL protests arrest of 'People's March' editor

Kochi, Dec 29 (UNI) The People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) today described as ''police high handedness,'' the arrest of Govindan Kutty, the editor of Maoist journal 'People's March,' here recently.

Mr Kutty was taken into custody by the police earlier this month following the arrest of wanted Maoist leader Mallah Raja Reddy by the Andhra Pradesh police at Angamali, near here.

Mr Kutty was arrested under the charges of spreading sedition and indulging in unlawful activities and was remanded in 14 days police custody by a lower court at Aluva.

Challenging the police action against Mr Kutty, PUCL Kerala unit president P A Pouran said his journal was registered with the Registrar of Newspapers of India (RNI) and was not a banned publication.

He accused the police of not bringing forth any concrete charges against Mr Kutty.

Objecting to the police decision to maintain records of all immigrant workers employed in quarries and construction sites in the state, Mr Pouran claimed this would result in ''intimidation'' of the workers and would violate the Inter-State Workman Migrants Act.

Stating that civil rights activists would build a common platform against ''police high handedness'' in the state, he said a protest march would be held at the High Court junction here on January 1.

UNI