Police started interrogation of arrested Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda in Berhampur on Sunday. On Saturday the court of Berhampur Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) had allowed ten days police remand for the arrested Maoist leader. The interrogation of Mr. Panda was done in the office of Berhampur Superintendent of Police (SP).
It may be noted that the SDJM had allowed presence of friends, relatives or lawyer of Mr. Panda to be present during his interrogation by police officials. So, during the two sessions of interrogation by Berhampur police, his lawyer Dipak Patnaik was present.
On Saturday, the SDJM court had also remarked that his family members could meet him as per the norms of jail manual. His wife Mili Panda was therefore allowed to meet him. She met her husband for around 15 minutes. After coming out she told newsmen that the arrested person was her husband. It may be noted that after Mr Panda’s arrest she had expressed doubts over the identity of the arrested person. She said her husband needed better medical attention as he was ailing.
According to police sources, Interrogation of Mr. Panda on Sunday was conducted in two sessions. Although details of the interrogation were not revealed, according to his lawyer and other sources, on the first day of interrogation, Mr. Panda was asked about his early life and the situations that led to his entry into the Maoist organisation.
Mr. Panda who had been expelled from the outlawed CPI (Maoist) organisation in 2012, had formed Odisha Maovadi Party (OMP). But this year he had again decided to form a new outfit named CPI (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist).
According to police sources, he was camping in a house in Badabazar area of Berhampur to recruit cadres for his new outfit, which led to his arrest.
