Indian court three year sentence to Gajurel

An Indian court on Monday has handed down a three-year-sentence to a senior Maoist leader, C. P. Gajurel, who is currently being held in India on charge of passport forgery.

According to BBC, Gajurel is likely to be freed in a few weeks time as he has already spent 34 months in Indian prison. Details were not immediately available.

Indian police in Chennai had arrested Gajurel in August 2003 on charge of attempting to board a flight to London on a forged passport and booked him under the National Security Act.

Upon his return from Delhi on Friday, Prime Minister G P Koirala said Indian authorities were positive towards releasing Maoist leaders and cadres currently being held in India. According to the CPN (M), nearly 140 Maoist leaders and cadres including senior leader Mohan Baidya are still behind bars in India on various charges.