Somen in police custody till March 7

Somen, who was arrested by the CID from Hridaypur on Saturday, was produced in Barasat court, which remanded him in police custody till March 7.

Dilip Mandi alias Deba (42), his associate who was also arrested on Saturday, was produced in Srirampur court in Hooghly and remanded in police custody for four days.

After the verdict, sources in the CID said: “Somen is being questioned and might be taken to Bhawani Bhawan for further interrogation.”

Singh said the CID’s Special Operations Group (SOG) raided two places at Nabapally to trace Ramen Roy, another accomplice of Somen.

Somen, 55, who is reportedly to have admitted to his involvement in several militant activities in West Bengal, Orissa and Jharkhand, was caught along with Deba from the Hridaypur railway station in Barasat, North 24 Parganas district.

Acting on a tip off, the CID conducted a raid to arrest Somen, but failed to identify him initially. Later, with the help of locals, it arrested him from a tea stall. Somen, who is considered to be a modest, soft-spoken gentleman in his locality, Surya Sen Nagari, raised a lot of eyebrows when the arrest was made.

His lawyer M N Ganguly vehemently criticised the police for tying him with a rope while producing him in court.

“He is a political leader, not a criminal. Police should not have treated him like other criminals. When I raised the issue in court, it termed the police action as illegal.”

Ganguly also made a plea that during Somen’s stay in police custody, he should not be subjected to physical and mental torture as he was not well. “Somen is suffering from malaria,” he said.

Somen, however, told the court that he had not been tortured so far.

His lawyer also challenged the seizure list produced by the CID. “They (CID) have claimed that banned documents, threat letters and some arms and ammunition were recovered from his possession. This is not true,” said Ganguly.

The CID said Somen was not involved in the movement of arms, but was an expert in triggering mine blasts. He was allegedly involved in a number of mine blasts in West Bengal, Orissa and Jharkhand.

A Maoist activist since the 1970s, he had been on the run for years, police said. “This is a breakthrough in our war against the Maoists,” said Rajib Kumar, who led the team that caught Somen.

He expressed hope that other senior leaders would soon be in the police net. Somen had allegedly masterminded the murder of CPM leaders Rabi Kar and Mahendra Mahato in Purulia, Barikul officer-in-charge Prabal Sengupta in Bankura and Bandwan officer-in-charge Nirmadhab Das in Purulia, said CID sources.