Jhargram (West Bengal):
Tribal leader Chhatradhar Mahato, arrested on Saturday near Lalgarh where he had been leading an agitation against alleged police excesses since last November, was on Sunday remanded to police custody by a special court till October 1.
The Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate also remanded eight others, arrested on Saturday, to police custody till that date. The eight include persons arrested along with Mahato and those held during planting of a landmine at Katapahari.
Mahato, an alleged ally of the Maoists, was booked for three offences, including setting fire to Jhargram police outpost and torching of several other police stations.
Mahato, chief of the People's Committee against Police Atrocities, who had evaded police arrest ever since he started the anti-police stir in Lalgarh in West Midnapore district, was caught at Pirka, near Lalgarh, while he was giving an interview to a journalist who was followed by policemen posing as TV journalists.