Police custody for activists Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira till nov 6
Pune, Oct 27: A local court here Saturday remanded two activists - Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, accused of having Maoist links, in police custody till November 6.
Gonsalves and Ferreira were taken into the custody by Pune police Friday evening, hours after the court rejected their bail applications along with that of Sudha Bharadwaj, observing that the material collected by the police, on the face of it, shows their alleged links with Maoists.
According to the police, Bharadwaj, who was under house arrest in Faridabad is also likely to be produced in the court later in the day on Saturday.
District and Sessions Judge K D Vadane sent the two activists to police custody after district government pleader and public prosecutor Ujjwala Pawar argued in the court that since all the accused were under house arrest as per the Supreme Court's directions, they could not be interrogated in connection with the case.
Seeking their police custody for 14 days, Pawar told the court that the preliminary investigation has revealed that they had links with the banned CPI (Maoist) and were involved in recruitment as well as raising funds for Maoist activities.
They were involved in "larger conspiracy to threaten the democratic set-up of the nation", Pawar told the court.
The Pune police had arrested Ferreira, Gonsalves, Bharadwaj and two others -- Telugu poet Varavara Rao and activist Gautam Navlakha -- in August this year in connection with the probe into violence in Koregaon Bhima in Pune on January 1 this year.
Gonsalves and Ferreira were brought to Pune from their residences in Mumbai on Friday after their bail pleas were rejected by the court. Their four-week period of house arrest also ended on Friday.
Opposing the police custody, defence lawyer Rahul Deshmukh, who represented Gonsalves, argued in the court that the police in their remand report have not mentioned that they need to recover any material from the accused.
The material seized earlier is already in their possession for nearly two months now, he said. "So there is no need for police custody," he said.
Citing a CrPC section, he argued that the house arrest of all these accused was nothing but a "judicial custody".
"While seeking the police custody of the accused, who are already in judicial custody, the prosecution needs to submit an affidavit before the court. But in this case, no affidavit was submitted, so there is no need to give police custody," Deshmukh said.
Advocate Siddharth Patil, representing Ferreira, argued the period of the house arrest specified by the SC was valid till 12 midnight of October 26.
"However, police took both the accused into the custody before the expiry of the house arrest, which is contempt of court," he said.
Talking to PTI later, Deshmukh said he would assess the order copy and will challenge the police custody in the high court.
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LPG supply disruption forces Kolkata's century-old Jewish bakery Nahoum's to shutter down briefly
Kolkata (PTI): In the heart of Kolkata stands Nahoum and Sons, which has withstood several headwinds, serving its customers with cakes and savouries for more than 120 years.
But the current West Asia crisis that disrupted energy supplies with the chocking of the Strait of Hormuz has dealt a body blow to the city's only Jewish bakery, forcing it to shutter its operations for five days.
A notice pasted outside the shop stated that the bakery would remain closed from March 18 to March 22 due to "unavoidable circumstances".
However, an official at the outlet in the New Market area told PTI on Thursday that the bakery had been struggling to cope with disruptions in cooking gas shortage for some time.
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"We were continuing operation despite limited commercial LPG cylinder supply, but production had to be scaled down significantly. Eventually, it became unfeasible to operate under such constraints, and a temporary shutdown was the only option," said Jagadish Haldar.
"We will open on March 23 and hope to resume full-fledged operation as early as we can," he said.
Maintaining its longstanding traditions, the bakery remains closed on Saturdays in observance of Jewish customs.
Barring the Covid-induced lockdown a few years ago, the temporary shuttering order, however, is unprecedented in recent memory. The bakery had earlier closed briefly in 2013, following the death of its owner, David Nahoum.
Regarded as a heritage landmark in Kolkata, the century-old confectionery continues to hold its place as a prominent destination for those seeking classic baked delicacies, even as it adapts to changing circumstances.
The menu had long been associated with a mix of traditional Jewish and Kolkata-style baked goods and continues to draw crowds for its signature offerings such as plum cakes, lemon tarts, brownies, almond kisses and fish pantras.
