Detained Indian Maoist takes oath as MP

NEW DELHI: A leading Indian Maoist rebel was sworn in as an MP in the federal parliament on Monday, having been allowed out of a jail where he is being held on charges of murder and extortion.

Kameshwar Baitha, 56, is being held in prison in eastern Bihar state and arrived in New Delhi over the weekend for the brief ceremony.

"His release was ordered by the courts and he left for New Delhi over the weekend to take oath as an MP," police official Vikas Vaibhav told.

"He is still a dreaded Maoist, feared by many."

While all MPs, including most of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's cabinet, were sworn in as members of parliament last week, Baitha could not take the oath as he was detained.

Baitha, accompanied by his wife and two security personnel but without handcuffs, seemed in good spirits as he walked out of parliament - smiling and waving at reporters and photographers.

He will go back into custody after the inaugural parliament session on Tuesday.

Baitha was arrested in 2005 with cases registered against him in three northern Indian states.

Police say he has been an active Maoist since 1984 and his mastery of explosives saw his rapid rise through the ranks to "zonal commander."

He contested the April-May polls as a candidate for the regional Jharkhand Mukti Morcha party, which has a tribal leadership.

He was able to stand for election because he has yet to be convicted.

India's Maoist insurgency, which grew out of a peasant uprising in 1967, has spread to more than half of the country's 29 states.

The rebels, who have been described by Prime Minister Singh as the single largest threat to India's security, use the forests of Chhattisgarh state - which borders Jharkhand - as their base.