2016 Nilambur arms case: Kerala HC grants bail to three undertrial Maoists, citing prolonged incarceration

Kochi: Kerala high court has granted bail to three Maoists — Rajan Chittilappally of Thrissur, R Raghavendran of Vellore in Tamil Nadu and Deepak of Chhattisgarh — after several years in custody in connection with the 2016 Nilambur arms case, involving alleged illegal arms training conducted in a reserve forest.A bench of Justices P Gopinath and P M Manoj granted bail to the three undertrial prisoners, considering that they had been in custody for a considerably long period, especially since three other accused in the case had already been released on bail.The prosecution is alleging that the petitioners, along with other accused, had entered a deep forest area in Nilambur and undergone arms training in 2016. The case is currently under trial before the NIA special court in Kochi.Rajan was arrested on Dec 18, 2020, while he was admitted to a private hospital following a vehicle accident. Raghavendran and Deepak were arrested in 2021. The accused contended in their petition that the first three accused in the case had been granted bail earlier by HC.The deputy solicitor general, appearing for NIA, vehemently opposed the plea, submitting that bail had earlier been granted to the other accused due to delays in the commencement of the trial. She pointed out that the trial is now underway and that nearly 94 of the 287 witnesses have already been examined. It was also submitted that two of the petitioners are not residents of Kerala and that there is a likelihood of them absconding if released on bail.However, HC granted bail to the petitioners subject to stringent conditions. These include a direction that they shall remain within Ernakulam district until the completion of trial, use only one mobile number during the bail period and communicate that number to the NIA investigating officer. HC further directed that they must remain accessible on the said number at all times and shall not switch off or discard the device without prior intimation.