For the tenth consecutive day, Roopesh, one of the five members of the Maoist gang that was arrested near Coimbatore in May this year, continues with his fast, in protest against the Kerala Police for all the false allegations being heaped on him.

He began the protest when he was taken to Kerala to appear for cases against him. Roopesh, wanted in 20 cases in Kerala, his wife Shyna, Anoop, Kannan and Eswaran were arrested from Karumathapatti on the outskirts of the city in the first week of May.

Roopesh claims that the state police was naming him in cases that he had nothing to do with. He began the strike while in Kerala and was brought back to Coimbatore about four days ago. Prison authorities are trying to convince him to end the protest, but Roopesh has also demanded that he be treated as political prisoner.