NIA special court acquits ex-Naxals in 3 cases in Karnataka

A National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) special court in Bengaluru recently acquitted four former Naxals – Mundagaaru Latha, Ravindra alias Kotehonda Ravi, Savitri alias Usha, and Vanajakshi alias Jyoti alias Kalpana in three separate cases.

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These individuals had surrendered to the Karnataka police in recent times. The court stated that the investigating officers failed to present sufficient evidence to support the charges against them.

What NIA court said

The NIA special court clarified that the prosecution was unable to provide proof in three cases involving Latha, two involving Ravindra, and one each involving Savitri and Jyoti.

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These three cases had been registered separately at the Sringeri police station in Chikkamagaluru district.

The incidents included, destruction of the Thanikodu forest check post (November 4, 2005), arson attack on a bike belonging to moneylender Gangadhar Shetty alias Kiran Shetty (May 22, 2008), organising a public meeting at Bukkadibailu (March 5, 2009).

In addition to various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the cases also involved sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), applicable to terrorist activities.

NIA Special Judge CM Gangadhar stated in the order, “The prosecution has failed to produce evidence proving that the accused had unlawfully assembled with the intention to commit a crime, posed serious threats to the public, possessed weapons without authorisation, or promoted or supported terrorist activities through unlawful acts.”

The court concluded that since the prosecution failed to prove the allegations, the accused were found not guilty. The six former Naxals had surrendered before the NIA special court on January 9.

(This article was originally published in The Federal Karnataka)