By IANS,
Raipur : Two women Maoist commanders and three of their associates have been charged with sedition for dropping a huge cache of arms at a busy square here in January, police said Friday.
“We have framed a chargesheet in a local court here against these five accused and witnesses will depose in October when the trial begins,” a police official told IANS.
Two top women insurgents – Meena Chaudhary alias Geeta and K.S. Priya alias Malti – dropped eight bags loaded with 91 pistols and 26 wireless sets at Dangania area in Raipur while travelling in a car.
The ammunition and equipment were meant for the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), which has been running a de facto administration for years in the state’s southern forested interiors of Bastar. Raipur police seized the cache before it was taken away.
Malti is the wife of Gudsa Usendi, spokesman of the CPI-Maoist. Apart from Geeta and Malti, their associates Prafulla Jha, a freelance journalist, Prateek Jha and Sidarth Sharma were also held for their role in the arms drop.
The police official said that all five had been charged with sedition. If convicted, the maximum punishment they face is the death penalty.