Duo held for bid to hand over pen drive to jailed Maoists

On Tuesday, they were produced before the judicial magistrate–III in the Coimbatore Court and lodged in jail till June 27. Search is on for another person who had reportedly given the pen drive through the arrested duo. 

Based on a complaint preferred by the CCP jailor Edwin Chandra Babu, the duo were booked under various sections. Maoist leader Roopesh, his wife Shyna and fellow maoists Anoop Mathew George, Kannan and Veeramani were arrested by the Q Branch Police and Coimbatore District Police in a bakery at Karumathampatty in Coimbatore District on May 4, 2015. They were lodged in the Coimbatore Central Prison (CCP). 

Around 2 30 in the afternoon on Monday, S Hari Hara Sharma (33) of Thiruvananthapuram and CP Rasheed (38) of Pandikkadu in Malappuram district went to the CCP to meet Shyna and Anoop. It is learnt that they had brought trousers and shirts for the inmates and were frisked by the Tamil Nadu Special Police (TSP) personnel at the entrance of the prison. 

“The TSP personnel found a pen drive in one of the trouser pockets and questioned them about it. But they refused to disclose details. They were handed over to the race course police,” said a police officer, who is investigating the case.  

When quizzed by officers from central and state intelligence agencies, it was found that both were members of Janakeeya Manushyavakasa Prasthanam. They had reportedly taken part in many protests in Kerala and had multiple cases against them. 

They were also under the scanner of intelligence agencies. The police said that the pen drive seized from them seemed to be empty and that it was sent to the cyber lab at Chennai on Tuesday to check for any contents in the hidden format. They also said that the case could get transferred to the Q Branch if inquiries confirmed that the duo were maoists.