The judicial custody of human rights activist A. Vasu, known as GROW Vasu, was extended till August 25 as he refused to apply for bail again when produced before the Kunnamangalam Judicial First Class Magistrate Court on Friday.
The 93-year-old former Naxalite leader was arrested by the Medical College police on July 29 and remanded in judicial custody till August 11 invoking Sections 141 and 353 of the Indian Penal Code for unlawful assembly and assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of duty in connection with an old protest against the police.
Mr. Vasu claimed that the State was witnessing two types of justice. Respecting the observation of the court that all citizens were bound to follow the law and order of the country, he said his fight was not against the judiciary but the administrative system of the State and its leaders driven by corporate forces. While speaking to reporters outside the court, he clarified that his style of functioning as a social activist was to question the unfair system in the administration.
‘Case against protesters’
Flaying the police action against him, Mr. Vasu said the police nabbed him for an incident in which he protested against the encounter killing of two Maoist leaders — Kuppu Devarajan and Ajitha — in Nilambur in 2016. “No case was registered against the killers, but the protesters were arrested and remanded,” he alleged.
Though there were attempts on the part of a few police officers and lawyers to convince Mr. Vasu about the legal requirements to secure bail in the case to fight it legally, he was reluctant to accept it, reiterating his argument that he had not done anything illegal. He also refused to make any payment to compound the offence or secure the bail.
Taken to sub-jail
Social activists and workers of the Revolutionary Marxist Party had gathered outside the court on Friday to meet him. Though there were plans to complete the procedures through videoconference from the Kozhikode sub-jail, the decision was changed following the request of the activist to present him in person before the magistrate. He was again taken to the sub-jail on completion of the court proceedings.
Police sources said the activist was arrested as part of executing a long-pending court warrant and he had been extended all support to secure bail. The case related to his open protest against police in front of the Kozhikode medical college mortuary in November 2016 against the alleged encounter killing of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) leaders, they added.
