In Chhattisgarh, People's rights activist Binayak Sen and two others – Naxal ideologue Narayan Sanyal and Kolkata businessman Piyush Guha – have been sentenced to life. They were found guilty of sedition and conspiracy under section 124 (A) and 120 (B) of the Indian Penal Code by the Sessions court in Raipur. PUCL leader Sen and the two others were charged with helping the Maoists in their fight against the state. Sen, 58, a paediatrician by training, had been accused by the prosecution of carrying messages and letters from Sanyal to the underground Maoists. Guha was also found involved in helping the Maoists establish a network. Binayak was arrested on May 14 in 2007 from Bilaspur. He was present in the court along with Sanyal and Guha. In another case, Asit Sengupta was sentenced by the court to a maximum 8 years imprisonment on charges of printing naxal literature. AIR correspondent G.C. Das reports from Raipur that while the police across the state has been put on alert following the judgement, the court premises in Raipur today was heavily guarded during the pronouncement of the verdict. The court room was as much packed as the premises when Justice B.P.Verma, the 2nd additional district and session judge pronounced the verdict on the trio under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the Chhattigarh Public Security Act. Members of the legal profession and the media were quite keen in following the judgement as soon as the court began today. It may be mentioned here that the high profile case of Dr. Vinayak Sen has attracted the attention of the media and the human rights activists, both national and international, since his arrest in 2007. He had been granted bail by the Supreme Court only last year after much legal effort.