Cops detain,quiz civil rights activists in Jharkhand

Six civil rights activists of Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation (CDRO) were detained by the Kotwali police on Sunday evening as they briefed the press about a fact-finding effort on the recent Maoist encounter in Chatra district. Prominent activist Shashi Bhushan Pathak were among those detained. They were let off by 8.15 pm after a brief questioning.

The police have not confirmed whether their move has anything to do with Maoist attack on Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh. They reportedly acted on the information that Maoists or those with links to them were meeting journalists. “We were trying to verify their credentials,” said Ranchi SSP Saket Kumar Singh.

The activists were meeting the press about the March 27-28 encounter between CPI (Maoist) and the Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TSPC) in Lakramanda tola in Kunda block. The TSPC,a Left wing extremist splinter group,had killed 10 Maoists.

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The Jharkhand unit of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties is a constituent of the CDRO. Its president Nishant Akhilesh confirmed that Shashi Bhushan Pathak,a former general secretary,is still a member.

Apart from Pathak,those detained were Ashish Gupta,Tapas Chakravarti,Partho Protim Dasgupta,Monutos Mukherjee and Moutuli Nag Sarkar.