Charges framed against 11 ‘Naxals’ in six months in Udupi dist

Udupi: Chargeshave been framed against 11 alleged naxals in the past six months in Udupi district, marking a significant step towards expediting long-pending cases, district police said on Monday.

According to official data released by the Udupi district police, a total of 68 naxal-related cases have been registered in the district so far. Of these, 39 cases are currently under judicial trial, while 28 cases have been disposed of. One case has been split into a separate charge case (split CC), with additional documents yet to be filed against three accused, while another case is under investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Police said that all 11 accused produced before jurisdictional courts during the last six months have had charges framed against them, allowing the cases to move into the trial stage.

Among the accused is M Vanajakshi alias Jyothi alias Kalpana (58) from Kalasa in Chikkamagalur district, currently lodged in Bengaluru Central Prison, who is facing trial in six cases. B G Krishnamurthy alias Vijay (46) from Sringeri, lodged at Viyyur High Security Prison in Kerala, is facing trial in seven cases, while Savithri J L alias Usha (33) from Kalasa is facing trial in two cases and is lodged in a women’s prison in Thrissur.

Latha alias Mundagaru Latha (45) from Sringeri, lodged in Bengaluru Central Prison, has charges framed in 12 cases.

Nilaguli Padmanabha from Koppa and Tombattu Lakshmi from Macchattu in Kundapur, both out on bail, are facing trial in two and three cases respectively.

Mahesh alias Madhava (49) from Raichur district is facing trial in eight cases, while A S Suresh alias Mahesh (50) from Mudigere taluk faces charges in 23 cases. Kanyakumari alias Suvarna from Kalasa has charges framed in 10 cases.

Other accused, including Sundari alias Geetha and Prabha alias Hosagadde Prabha, are facing trial in nine and six cases respectively.

Udupi Superintendent of Police Hariram Shankar said investigation delays that earlier plagued naxal-related cases had been addressed.

“Priority has now been given to investigation and filing of charge sheets, which has paved the way for trials in almost all cases,” he said.