Soumittra S Bose, TNN Jan 16,

Every time a so-called Naxalite is granted bail and is expected to walk out of central jail, Shakespeare famous line ‘All the world’s a stage‘ from his As You Like It‘ comes to mind. With each interpreting the bail order the way they like it, all players gear up for the inevitable drama staged outside the gate of jail. It usually ends with the alleged Naxalite being arrested almost as soon as he is released. A lawyer representing the rebel said that around 31 people have been part of this arrest-bail-re-arrest drama during the last six months.

The media too remain alert to catch the action live retaining all the juices of a tight-script drama. With the lawyers and police locked in a tug-of-war over the released Naxalite, the media also remain on toes to catch every slightest bit of the commotion until the cops zoom out in some rickety government vehicle with their ‘prize catch’.ir ‘prize catch’.

It was expected to be same with the alleged Naxal activist Arun Ferreira’s when he was released earlier this month after the bail formalities. The speculation of his getting arrested again at the jail gate like in September 2011 was rising among his lawyers and media. The over-zealous media on the day of Ferreira’s release nearly made two inconsequential prison inmates heroes as they came out mistaking them for the Mumbai man. The error was realized only when the cops started giggling aloud.

The undertrials, who were escorted away by the cops for different reason, had a surprised look on their face as more than a dozen cameramen ran towards them clicking their pictures and chasing the cops’ jeep. A couple of media men left the place in a jiffy to become first to break the news of release.

When Ferreira himself walked out, he looked around cautiously and was unable to believe there was none to whisk him away again. Many attribute to this anti-climactic end to a petition filed before the high court by his lawyers just a day before the release. A week later, however, cops were up to their old trick as they picked up three so-called Naxalites outside Nagpur central jail as soon as they walked out. In this case there was no media present to highlight the drama nor a petition had been filed for the trio to ensure their safe passage home. These so-called rebels were not a ‘celebrity’ like Ferreira. After being released from jail on bail, it is learnt they landed in the office superintendent of police, Gondia.

In 2007 too, dramas outside central jail revolving around the release of Mallesh Kusumma, alias Vikram, would repeat every six months as the period for preventive arrests would get over and security agencies, desperate to keep him in custody, would pick him up again. Now it is learnt that Mallesh is a family man settled in Hyderabad. His petition before the high court protesting his arrest and re-arrest from jail gate has also reached a final stage. “After Monicagate and watergate, we now have jailgate scandals which is a mockery of bail provisions,” said an angry Naxal sympathizer.