Police refers Azad''s letter to term Ghandy as Maoist

New Delhi, Jan 18 (PTI) The Delhi police today relied ona press release issued by a spokesperson of CPI (Maoist) andkidnap and killing of a Jharkhand policeman after the arrestof top Maoist leader Kobad Ghandy in 2009 to substantiate itscharge against him of being member of the ultra-Left outfit.

"Cherukeri Rajkumar alias Azad issued a press release onSeptember 24, a few days after arrest of Ghandy, terming himas Central Committee member of CPI (Maoist) and praising hiswork for the masses despite belonging to an elite group,"public prosecutor Rajeev Mohan told Additional Sessions JudgeR K Gauba.

He also quoted the contents of the letter including aportion extolling him for "mingling" with the masses.

Azad, the spokesperson of the outfit, along withjournalist Hem Chandra Pandey, was killed in a controversialencounter in Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh in July lastyear.

The prosecutor also referred to the beheading ofJharkhand police Inspector Francis Induwar, who was abductedallegedly by Maoists to demand release of Ghandy along withtwo others in October, 2009, to buttress his contention.

He was putting forth the arguments before the court onframing of charges against Ghandy arrested on September 20,2009 from the national capital.

The prosecutor, who initially pointed to an interview ofGhandy by BBC published on September 23, 2009, had a toughtime convincing the court which said that it was notsufficient to say that he belonged to the banned organisation.

"You are going astray. What is the proof? Does it sayanywhere that he was holding a post or was a member of CPI(Maoist)," the court said.