Maoists threaten to extend bandh indefinitely

Maoists have threatened to extend indefinitely their bandh call in seven states if their arrested leader Azad is not produced before a court on Monday, a top Naxal leader said on Saturday.

"Our 48-hour bandh call from March 22 in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and three districts of Maharashtra will be extended indefinitely if Azad is not produced before the court on Monday," said top Maoist leader Kishenji.

Azad, a politburo member of the Communist Party of India - Maoist and spokesperson of the party, was arrested by the Andhra Pradesh police in a joint operation by the Maharashtra police on March 11, and since then he has not been produced before any court, his mother alleged before the AP human rights commission.

"The bandh call on March 22 and March 23 is to protest the operations targeted against the movement of the common people led by Maoists," he said.

The bandh has also been called in Bhandara, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli districts of Maharashtra, he said.