Kolkata: Conceding that none of the 22 villagers arrested by security forces during the Lalgarh operation were "outright Maoists", the West Bengal government on Tuesday said all of them will be prosecuted under the Indian Penal Code and not according to the provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
Declaring that charges framed under the UAPA on two of those arrested from Bankura will be withdrawn, state Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen said they would also be tried under the IPC provisions.
Sen said the government has asked the Bankura police superintendent to withdraw the charges under the UAPA slapped on Kanchan Murmu and Gopinath Murmu, who were caught while hiding in a bush with the detonating wire of a landmine Sunday.
"They will be prosecuted under sections of IPC. The 20 other villagers, who were arrested, will also be treated accordingly," he told reporters.
"None of those arrested so far in Lalgarh are outright Maoists," he said.
The top bureaucrat said the state government also did not consider Chhatradhar Mahato, the leader of the Maoist-backed agitating tribal body, People's Committee against Police Atrocities (PCAPA), as one officially linked to the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).
Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had Monday told a cabinet core committee that police needed to take permission of the home secretary before arresting anyone under the UAPA.
Sen, however, said Maoist leaders Kishanji alias Koteswar Rao, Bikash and Sashadhar Mahato could be tried under the stringent UAPA.
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