HC restrains police from seeking further custody of Maoists

The Madras High Court has restrained CB-CID of Coimbatore District from filing any application for seeking further custody of Maoist leader Roopesh, his wife and three others.
When they were produced before a vacation sessions court at Coimbatore on June 5, the judge had granted police 10 days to keep them into custody for questioning.
The five moved the High Court against police further seeking custody of them.
Vacation judge of the High Court M M Sunderesh had yesterday restrained the police from further seeking their custody.
The judge said "already out of 10 days, eight days are over and only two days are left. Hence, police are not entitled to file application seeking any more custody."

The counsel for the petitioners submitted that the vacation Sessions Judge has no jurisdiction to grant police custody of the five as offences levelled against them were under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act-1967 and it has to be tried by a Special Court which was functioning at Poonamallee near Chennai.

Hence the police custody of the five, granted by the Sessions Judge, is unsustainable in the eyes of law, the counsel contended.
Roopesh, wanted in at least 20 cases in Kerala along with his wife Shina, besides three others Anup, Veeramani and Kannan, were arrested on May 4 at Karumathampatti near Coimbatore.

They were having tea at a bakery when they were apprehended in a joint operation by police from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.