HC grants bail to 16 accused

The Madras High Court today granted bail to 16 of the 24 accused allegedly trained by Naxalites at an undisclosed place in Marina Beach here in 2013 while declining to grant the same relief to the other eight.
Granting bail, Justice P Devadass directed all 16 of them to execute a bond for Rs 10,000 each to the satisfaction of Judicial Magistrate II of Dharmapuri, stay at Tiruchirapalli and report daily before the Inspector of Police, Cantonment, till further orders.
All the 16 were arrested on June 28 in Dharmapuri, six days prior to commemoration of the first death anniversary of Dalit youth Ilavarasan.

Ilavarasan had married Hindu girl Divya following which her father committed suicide, resulting in some Dalit colonies being attacked. Later Ilavarasan was found dead in a suspicious manner.
The prosecution case was that as per the confession of the accused, two Naxalites had tutored them to take up arms against Vanniars and they were trained with the help of some members of 'Thudi', an organization intended to educate Dalit youth which is interested in the educational, social and cultural uplift of Dalit youth.
Counsel for the accused submitted that several 'stage- managed' recoveries were effected and the youths were whisked away from their houses and arrested.

The judge noted that no lethal weapon or any weapon or any recoveries were effected from the accused. There was also no information of any bad antecedents or prior criminal cases against them.

"They seem to be misguided youth. Some persons who are stated to be leaders have misguided them. Petitioners seem to be dumb driven cattle. They are in jail for a considerable period. Hence, I am inclined to grant them bail."
Meanwhile, he rejected the anticipatory bail applications of one Madan Raj and Bharathi Prabu in the same incident.
"These accused were alleged to be instrumental in misguiding other accused to indulge in certain criminal activities. There are very many materials collected during the investigation concerning the above petitioners, which need to be verified by police. Investigation is going on and I am not inclined to grant them anticipatory bail," he said.

The judge also declined to grant bail to six other accused, including one Santosh, noting they were arrested and detained under National Security Act clamped by the District Collector.