14-day judicial remand for Maoist leader Kobad Ghandy

A Delhi court today sent Kobad Ghandy, a Politbureau member of the banned CPI (Maoist), to 14 days of judicial custody.

Chief metropolitan magistrate Kaveri Baweja sent 59-year-old Ghandy to judicial custody till October 29 when he was produced before the court after the expiry of his police custody.

Meanwhile, the court also partially heard the bail application filed on his behalf and posted it for further hearing for October 20.

The court had on October 8 extended the police remand of Ghandy by seven days to facilitate the investigating agency to gather evidence and unravel the designs of the Maoists.

Ghandy's release was reportedly demanded by Maoists along with their two other leaders in exchange for abducted Jharkhand police inspector Francis Induwar, who was later beheaded by the extremists.

The Maoist leader, who was in charge of expanding the proscribed organisation's influence in urban areas, was arrested on September 21 by the special cell of Delhi Police.

Ghandy, who studied in the prestigious Doon School and the Cambridge University, was among the top echelons of erstwhile CPI-ML (People's War group) and then became a Central Committee member of the CPI (Maoist) after its formation. He became part of the CPI (Maoist) Politbureau in 2007.