Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Wednesday granted bail to law students Alan Shuhaib and Thaha Fasal who were arrested under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in Kozhikode in November 2019 for suspected Maoist links.
Twenty-year-old Alan and 24-year-old Thaha were arrested by Pantheerankavu police in Kozhikode in November 2019 for allegedly distributing pro-Maoist posters.
Counsels of Alan and Thaha informed the Court that they have been lodged in Jail for the last 10 months and the police had not produced any evidence so far indicating their Maoist links.
The Kerala left government had come under heavy criticism when the Kerala police booked the case under UAPA.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan defended the arrest, stating that the two were not CPI(M) cadre but ‘Maoists’.
Alan and Thaha, who were both members of the CPI(M), were ousted from the party in February after they were arrested.
Earlier, a group of writers, academics, intellectuals, journalists and activists including eminent filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan, writers N.S. Madhavan and K.G. Sankara Pillai, and veteran journalist B.R.P. Bhaskar claimed that Alan and Thaha were arrested not on the basis of their involvement in any criminal activity or any complaint.
 court on Wednesday granted bail to law students Alan Shuhaib and Thaha Fasal who were arrested under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in Kozhikode in November 2019 for suspected Maoist links.){kind=link}