2021 Assembly Election News LIVE Updates: Chhatradhar Mahato, the former leader of the Maoist-backed Popular Committee Against Police Atrocities and currently a member of the Trinamool Congress, was arrested by the NIA in connection with a murder case. On Thursday, the high court in Calcutta ordered Mahato to appear at the office of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) three times a week for his involvement in the case. The NIA had filed an appeal with the higher court challenging a special court order preventing the agency from arresting Mahato in connection with the 2009 murder of a local CPI (M) leader in Lalgarh, Jangalmahal region, which then it was a hotbed of Maoists. activities.
The agency had transferred to the agency’s special court seeking warrants for the questioning of Mahato in custody. Mahato had failed to appear before the NIA special tribunal on several occasions for various reasons. After several such failures, on November 18, 2020, the special court ordered Mahato to appear before it exactly one month later, while ordering that the NIA not arrest him in the meantime. The NIA has charged Mahato under various sections of the Illegal Activity (Prevention) Act, in addition to waging a war against the country.
Mahato was released from prison in 2020 after serving a 10-year sentence in connection with a failed attempt on the life of then-West Bengal’s chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, in 2008 and several other cases of bombings and landmine explosions.
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