Kochi court to decide on plea for custody of Roopesh, Shyna today

KOCHI: The additional district sessions court, Ernakulam will consider the petition filed by the internal security investigation team (ISIT) for the custody of Maoist leader Roopesh and his wife Shyna on Saturday.
The court on Friday heard the objection filed by the counsel of Roopesh and Shyna, Thushar Nirmal Sarathy. The counsel argued that Kerala police had, during their interrogation in Tamil Nadu, threatened to kill the duo once they were brought to Kerala.
The counsel also argued that the duo had never absconded and they were active in the political circuit for the past many years. There is a hidden agenda in implicating them in the crime, he submitted. He also requested the court to allow him to meet the couple once every day while they are in police custody to report any kind of custodial torture. Public prosecutor P K Sajeevan, meanwhile, submitted that police needed the custody of the couple for 15 days for witness identification and gathering of evidence.