Rights activist threatening us: police

kolkata: a human rights activist is "threatening" and "preventing" the police from taking action against the naxalite people's war group in the midnapore district, according to a complaint in court by officers of the sensitive salboni police station. on the basis of the complaint, the executive magistrate, midnapore has started proceedings against association for protection of democratic rights branch secretary dipak basu under section 107 of the crpc.he has also been asked to show cause why he should not be asked to execute two bonds of rs 1,000 each "for keeping peace for the period of one year". from the police report, the magistrate has concluded that the activist is "very desperate and dangerous in nature" and is "likely to commit/cause breach of the peace in the locality if he is not restrained from doing wrong" (ncr no. 536/2001). basu's "wrong", according to police (salboni p.s. gde no. 398, dt. 14.7.2001), was that he wanted "information regarding salboni ps case no. 50/2001 dt 9.7.2001". the police report admits that the information was denied. it alleges that "on refusal, he burst into anger and started to use abusive language". he "threatened" to "hamper the service life" of the officer concerned, of "dire consequence" and "severe punishment". and this was not the first time basu had done so, it claims. the case in question, relating to bidhubhusan mahato, has been reported earlier in this newspaper. the 73-year-old man was arrested from village paluiboni in the salboni police station area on july 7, along with two young women, kakali mandi and deepa sarkar. the "incriminating documents" found on them were leaflets decrying clinton's visit to india. "mahato was admitted to midnapore sadar hospital for treatment. we went to inquire why he had fallen sick in custody, and found that the police did not get him the medicines prescribed by the doctor," basu told tnn. the apdr team arranged for the medicines. when basu complained about this to the salboni police station, the investigating officer claimed it was not his duty to provide medicines, he said. "the oc later apologised for the negligence over telephone and wanted to know our office address. i realised why only when the show-cause notice landed," said basu. on saturday, the apdr staged a sit-in and procession at midnapore and submitted memoranda to the district and police authorities in protest. meanwhile, mahato and mandi were reported to be ill in custody. though the police could not frame charges within 90 days, they have been booked in a fresh murder case. the rights group complained that supreme court directions were violated while arresting the two girls, as well as six other women arrested recently from salboni. a mother was "forcibly separated from her child", while a class xii student of salboni high school "was arrested and debarred from appearing for his ongoing test examination". the apdr further alleged that in goaltore, salboni and belpahari, "innocent villagers are being harassed and apprehended in the name of containing naxalites".