Mangaluru : Vittala Malekudiya and his father, Linganna Malekudiya, have been charged by the police of having links with Maoists. The first hearing on the case — after the police filed a charge sheet before the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Belthangady, on January 30 — was on Wednesday.

Vittala (25), a journalism degree holder, and his father were arrested on March 3, 2012 from their house at Kuthlur village in Kudremukh National Park. They were lodged in the Mangaluru prison till July 5. Vittala was not allowed to write his examinations for the first year postgraduate course because of shortage of attendance.

The Belthangady police had filed the charge sheet a week after getting permission from the State government as required under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

Vittala’s advocate, S.M. Shivakumar, said the two had been accused of having links with Vikram Gowda, Pradeep, John, Prabha and Sundari, who are absconding and mentioned as accused No. 1 to 5.

The police accused Vittala of holding meetings in Kuthlur and distributing pamphlets issued by Maoists. The police have charged the two under Section 10 and 13 (3) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and Sections 120 and 120 (b) of the Indian Penal Code.

The Magistrate has issued summons asking Vittala and his father to appear before the court on September 1.

It might be recalled that Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Brinda Karat had raised this issue before the then Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda.