Naxal leader wants to be in Karnataka jail, court says no

UDUPI: Principal Civil Judge, (Junior Division), Kundapur, Dhanesh Mugal has rejected naxal leader B G Krishnamurthy’s plea to be housed in any of the jail in Karnataka instead of shifting him to Thrissur jail in Kerala.

As a result, he was shifted to a jail in Hiriyadka in Udupi on Wednesday evening and he was taken to a jail in Thrissur on Thursday. Krishnamurthy pleaded that out of four cases registered against him in Kerala, he had obtained bail in one case. During the trial in the remaining three cases, Krishnamurthy said he would be able to go and present himself before the court in Kerala by being in Karnataka jail.

As there are more cases registered against him in Karnataka, he said he wanted to be housed in any of the jails in Karnataka. The judge also transferred the trial of two naxal leaders B G Krishnamurthy and Savithri (alias Rejitha), of the proscribed CPI (Maoist) who were arrested by the Anti-terrorism Squad from Wayanad, Kerala, on November 9, 2021 to Additional District and Sessions Court, Kundapur.

There are six cases against the duo at Shankaranarayana police station and one at Kollur police station (Udupi district) and the chargesheet in connection with all seven cases was filed before the court on Wednesday.

The two leaders face charges of spreading Maoist ideology, possession of weapons, weapon training and unlawful assembly to launch an armed agitation. Krishnamurthy known as BGK among Maoists is from Sringeri and was reportedly the secretary of the Maoists’ Western Ghats special zonal committee. Savithri is from Kalasa and was associated with Kabani Dalam.

A farmer, Keshava Yadiyala was killed at Hallihole near Kundapur on December 7, 2008. This incident had happened in the Shankaranarayana police station limits in Udupi district. Police from Kundapur sub-division had taken the duo into their custody on May 10 and had interrogated them in this regard. After 10 days of interrogation, they were sent to jail in Thrissur.