Himalayan News Service

New Delhi, May 26:

Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Prakash Karat today formally denied that he met Nepali Maoist leader Dr Baburam Bhattarai. In a statement issued here, Karat said the report which had appeared in a section of the press was baseless and untrue.

“No such meeting took place,’’ he said. ‘’The report published in a national daily that I had a meeting with a Maoist leader from Nepal, arranged by the Indian security agencies is untrue,’’ the CPI (M) General Secretary said. In a report carried in its Wednesday’s edition, The Times of India claimed that Karat had “confirmed” the meeting although he did not share details.