Raipur:
Renowned civil rights activist, -58-year-old, Dr Binayak Sen has been found guilty of sedition for helping Maoists and has been sentenced to life term.
A Raipur court in Chhattisgarh has found him guilty of waging war against India.
''He has been found guilty under Section 124 and also under Chhattisgarh Jan Suraksha Act. We will appeal against it, '' said Hashim Khan, Binayak Sen's lawyer.
The court has found him guilty of carrying letters with seditious content between dreaded Naxal prisoner Narayan Sanyal and Kolkata-based businessman Piyush Guha, an alleged Maoist sympathiser.
In the police diaries, Sanyal is the mastermind behind the attack on former Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu and the Jehananabad jailbreak in Bihar that freed 340 prisoners including Maoists.
Police say, Sen was allegedly helping the Naxals set up an urban network.
Dr. Sen has been sentenced under the tough and controversial Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act that was set up to combat the growing Maoist violence. An act, that activists have criticised for restricting public meetings, organised protests and opposition of government policies.
Sen, an award winning paediatrician has been working in the forests of Chhattisgarh treating tribals for decades.
As Vice-President of the People's Union for Civil Liberties he was a strong critic of the state's Salwa Judum, a parallel police of tribal youth, the government created to counter Naxals.
Sen repeatedly brought up the Salwa Judum's human rights violations and its misuse of special powers.
In 2007, Chhattisgarh Police arrested him for alleged Maoist links. The police was later forced to release him on the Supreme Court's orders that cited lack of evidence.
Three years later, now a local court has held him guilty
''The government didn't like him because they thought he was a man who raised a voice against their wrong policies. When I met Raman Singh and told him that there is a total intelligence failure and that news that Binayak is a Naxal leader and terrorist is false. It was up to him to believe me or the police . He took his decision and we are all facing the consequences of that, '' said Illina Sen, Dr. Binayak Sen's wife.
There has been dismay all over the country as the news broke.
''The criminals are roaming at large, gang rapists are not punished, but Binayak Sen is given life sentence, '' said Brinda Karat CPI(M) politburo Member.
Dr. Sen represents the complexity of the issue of groups and individuals like him. He has a proven track record of social work and is alleged to support enemies of the country by a state government that is itself accused of violent excesses.
While a Centre struggling to cope with Maoist violence stands mute.