2 yrs on, cops left red-faced

When Arun Ferreira and Ashok Reddy alias Murli were arrested in 2007, the police had claimed it was the biggest crackdown on the Maoist movement in the state, reports Shailendra Mohan.

When Arun Ferreira and Ashok Reddy alias Murli were arrested in 2007, the police had claimed it was the biggest crackdown on the Maoist movement in the state.

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On Thursday, a Nagpur court acquitted both of them, along with two others, for lack of evidence in the first of the four cases against them.

When the arrests were announced, police had alleged that Ferreira — whom the police had called a key member of the Maoists Maharashtra state committee — was in possession of a pen drive containing incriminating Maoist literature, strategic information and details of secret meetings, while Reddy, an alleged Maoist strategist, had been found with a 9 mm pistol.

“The pen drive that allegedly contained incriminating documents was the basis on which Ferreira was charged. But the prosecution could not prove the pen drive was recovered from him,” said Ferreira’s advocate, Surendra Gadling.

Gadling pointed out that the police charge sheet listed the bore of the pistol recovered from Reddy as 9 mm. This contradicts the ballistics report, which said the recovered pistol was a 7.76 mm weapon.

Both Ferreira and Reddy had said they were not in possession of any weapon, a stand they had maintained in their narco tests as well. On May 8, 2007, Nagpur police charged Ferreira and three others, including Reddy, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The Maharashtra police now say they have begun a “serious review” of all cases against the two. Surendra Kumar, inspector general of police (Nagpur range) said he has asked all superintendents of police to look into the pending cases, adding that the state will appeal this acquittal.

“I have not seen the judgment yet so I will not be able to tell you what went wrong,” Kumar said, adding that Ferreira and Reddy have 4 to 5 cases pending against each of them in Gadchiroli, Chandrapur and Gondia, among other places.

Experts say the acquittal will not have any immediate impact on the pending cases. Director General of Police Jayant Umranikar said it was the most innocuous of the pending cases, and dealt with throwing of pamphlets and carrying out propaganda.

Others say the acquittal demonstrates poor investigation. “The police and prosecution failed to make a watertight case in court,” said security affairs expert Ajai Sahni, noting that most police officers conducting such investigations lack the technical capability to gather evidence in a scientific manner.