Tribal youths arrested for Naxal links warn of hunger-strike

On the occasion of 51st anniversary of creation of Maharashtra, 61 tribal youths from Gadchiroli district, arrested for alleged links with Naxals, have written a letter to chief minister, threatening to go on a hunger strike to protest their detention without trial .

"We have been implicated under false charges and the allegations made against us cannot hold up before the court. Therefore the government has adopted a policy of keeping us rotting in prison and not producing us before the court. We would go on a hunger-strike in protest," the letter to Prithviraj Chavan says.

The youths allege that some of them have been languishing in central prison, Nagpur, for more than two years.

Their lawyer, Anil Kale, said here that these youths were innocent and had nothing to do with naxals. They were demanding a commission headed by retired high court judge to conduct inquiry into charges against them, he added.

"We should be freed from this mental torture by speedily disposing of the cases pending against us. We have been kept in jails just on suspicion, and refused bail," letter says.

It alleges that home minister RR Patil, who is also the guardian minister for Gadchiroli, had assured to look into this matter during the budget session, but did nothing.