NAXAL/ MAOISTS- 2010 - Indian Social Institute

Huika lodged an FIR before the Narayanapatna police station, the police reached the spot in the
afternoon, and seized the body and after post mortem handed it over to the relatives of Sombaru. Due to
the incident fear prevails in the area, sources said. (Pioneer, 10/12/2010)
Reports of ISI link: Indian Social Institute, says Sen's wife
RAIPUR: The wife of civil rights activist Binayak Sen, who is facing charges of colluding with Naxals,
today expressed shock over reports that the prosecution tried to link the couple to 'ISI' during arguments
at a court here. She told TV news channel that the ISI mentioned in an e-mail sent by her which was
reportedly referred to by the public prosecutor was Indian Social Institute, a reputed Delhi-based research
and advocacy organisation. Sen, a People's Union of Civil Liberties leader who was in jail for two years
before being granted bail by the Supreme Court in May last year, has been accused by Chhattisgarh
police of acting as a courier for a jailed Naxal leader. According to media reports, during closing
arguments of Sen's trial here, the public prosecutor tried to link him and his wife Elina to an international
terror network. "Elina Sen has also written an e-mail to one Fernandes from the ISI. We do not know if
this is the Pakistan's ISI, but there is some significance to this," he reportedly said. Expressing shock over
the report, Elina said the ISI referred here is Indian Social Institute. "In fact, yesterday among the many
things I did in Delhi (before coming to Raipur last night) was to visit the Indian Social Institute, which is
what is referred to as ISI in the story," she said. If the prosecution is "resorting to this at this stage of the
trial when not a shred of evidence has come against my husband, it really points to their desperation,"
she said. (TOI, 12/12/2010)
Police fabricated evidence in Binayak Sen case: defence
Lawyer highlights inconsistencies in account of events described by the Investigating Officer On the third
day of the closely watched trial of celebrated doctor and activist Binayak Sen, the defence focussed on
Piyush Guha, a Kolkata businessman who, along with suspected Maoist leader Narayan Sanyal, is
accused of conspiring with Dr. Sen to assist the urban operations of the banned Communist Party of India
(Maoist). The prosecution claims that Mr. Guha was arrested on May 6, 2007 near the Raipur railway
station with Maoist publications and three letters allegedly written by Narayan Sanyal in jail and passed
on by Dr. Sen. The defence countered and said Mr. Guha was picked up on May 1, 2007, and illegally
detained for a week before the police staged his arrest. Mr. Guha's lawyer, S.K. Farhan, pointed that the
prosecution has not produced a single eye-witness, letter, phone transcript or call-log linking Mr. Guha to
Dr. Sen. The prosecution's case rests on the testimony of one Anil Kumar Singh, a cloth merchant who
claims to have been present at the time of Mr. Guha's arrest. In court, Mr. Singh claimed to have
overheard Mr. Guha saying that Dr. Sen had given him Sanyal's letters, thereby establishing a link
between the three. Today, the defence sought to highlight the inconsistencies in the account of events
described by Investigating Officer B.S. Jagrit. “Jagrit is no less than superman,” said Mr. Farhan.
“According to his statements, he is everywhere, all the time, and works faster than any mortal I have
seen,” he said, drawing attention to Mr. Jagrit's testimony that he managed to arrest Mr. Guha, search
him twice, find two witnesses, complete all the paperwork consisting of personal search memos, arrest
memos and seizure memos, apply for (and receive) written permission from Senior Superintendent of
Police B.S. Maravi and deposit all seized items in the police safe house in about 90 minutes. (The Hindu,
14/12/2010)
Finally, Army moves into Maoist territory
RAIPUR: The Indian army is moving into the conflict theatre of Bastar, arriving at the doorsteps of what is
arguably the strongest military base of the CPI Maoist - not for combat, as yet, but ostensibly for training.
"Manoeuvre ranges have been finalised in Narayanpur district where training will be given to our troops,"
confirmed a highly placed official in the army. Significantly, the hundred square kilometres identified for
training lie in the foothills of Abujhmad, a thickly forested plateau, straddling both Chhattisgarh and
Maharashtra, one of the only regions of India unsurveyed by the government, considered out of bound for
the administration, entirely controlled by insurgents, and often described as a Maoist liberated zone.
While the army sought to emphasise that its plans are limited to training, and there will be no active troop
deployment against the Maoist insurgency, sources in the security establishment said any training facility
would necessitate logistical support. "This means the army would first secure the Kondagaon-Narayanpur
axis, placing a large number of troops in a series of camps, before it moves inwards for the purpose of
training, somewhere near Orcha in the foothills of Abujhmad" explained a senior official. Since the
Maoists ambushed and killed more than hundred CRPF men in Bastar this summer - incidentally one of