Yashoda acquitted of Naxal link charges

UDUPI: Yashoda, hailing from Mujhekhana of Kalasa, in Mudigere taluk, who was accused of having nexus with Naxalites was acquitted of her charges by the Udupi District and Sessions Judge here on Friday.The police had arrested wounded Yashoda, in an encounter held at Idu, in Karkala taluk, on November 17, 2003. The police headed by then SP Murugan had gunned down two Naxalites - Parvathi of Koppala and Hajima of Raichur in the courtyard of one Ramappa Poojary’s house in an encounter.Apart from having participated in the Maoist movement, police had charged Yashoda of attempting to kill a policeman on duty and also booked her under the Arms Act. The court had as many as 40 witnesses and District and Session Judge Narendra Kumar Gunaki passed the acquittal order. Advocates M Shantharam Shetty from Udupi and B A Jagadish from Bangalore had argued on behalf of Yashoda.Speaking to press persons, Yashoda said that she had full faith in the judiciary and she is happy to get acquitted. “I have been a member of the committee against National Park and on the day of the encounter I was returning after attending a meeting. Police shot at me and I was injured,” she said.“I spent around Rs 1.50 lakh and my villagers bore most of the expenses voluntarily. Since the last eight years, I have been coming all the way to Udupi to attend the court proceedings several times. Now that I have won my personal legal battle, I will now fight against the government attempts to evacuate 43 families in my village, she added.Since a year she has been the president of Hobali level Aranya Hakku Samithi, formed under Forest Act to take up survey of forests.