PCPA leaders' bail applications dismissed

Bail applications of Chhatradhar Mahato, the leader of Maoist-backed PCPA in Lalgarh, and another leader of the outfit were not pursued and as such dismissed by the Calcutta High Court today.

After several days of hearing of their prayer, former PCPA convenor Mahato and erstwhile PCPA treasurer Sukhshanti Baskey lodged in jail under different charges, decided not to pursue their bail petitions, which were then dismissed by a division bench comprising Chief Justice J N Patel and Justice Asim Roy.

The West Bengal government had last week informed the court that the PCPA (People's Committee against Police Atrocities) was a front organisation of Maoists and as such a banned organisation by implication under UAPA.

Public prosecutor Asimesh Goswami stated that PCPA was supplementing the activities of Maoists in Lalgarh and adjoining areas in West Midnapore district.

The bail prayers of Raja Sarkhel and Prasun Chatterjee, from whom Maoist literature and provocative leaflets were seized, were posted for further hearing on January five.