Ghandy says confession 'forced', seeks to retract

Top Maoist leader Kobad Ghandy on Friday moved a Delhi court, expressing his willingness to withdraw the 'forcible confession' made before the police, following his arrest in New Delhi in September.

Ghandy, a central committee member of the Communist Party of India - Maoist, was produced before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kaveri Baweja, who sent him to judicial custody till December 25.

Ghandy, 63, was brought to New Delhi from Andhra Pradesh, where he was facing charges under the Explosive Substances Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, in a case registered in Karimnagar district in 2008.

In the application, Ghandy said he wanted to retract from the alleged 'forcible confession' recorded by the police while he was in custody. The accused also alleged that he was not aware of the contents of any such confession, as he was forced to sign on blank sheets of paper.

The court took Ghandy's application into records.

The court also issued notices to the Delhi police and AIIMS and sought a response by December 16 on Ghandy's plea for medical treatment at the premier institute. He is reportedly suffering from prostrate cancer.

Ghandy, an ideologue and think-tank of the banned outfit, has been booked for various charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act after his arrest in New Delhi on September 20.

The Delhi police, which had on October 31 secured a green signal from a lower court to conduct a narco-analysis test on Ghandy, suffered a setback after the Delhi high court stayed it, after Ghandy pleaded that the constitutional validity of the invasive test has been challenged before the Supreme Court.

His release, along with that of two other leaders, was reportedly demanded by Maoists for the safe return of abducted Jharkhand police Inspector Francis Induwar, who was later beheaded near Ranchi.

An alumnus of the prestigious Doon School, Ghandy was in the top echelons of erstwhile Communist Party of India - Marxist Leninist (People's War Group) from 1981 and continued as Central Committee member in CPI - Maoist. He was elected to its politburo in 2007.