New Delhi, March 19 (IANS) Maoist leader Kobad Ghandy's suspected associate Arvind Joshi, arrested from Kanpur by the Uttar Pradesh Police, was sent to police custody for 10 days by a city court Friday.

The court also extended the judicial custody of Ghandy till April 3.

Metropolitan Magistrate Ashu Garg sent Joshi to police custody after a production warrant was issued against him.

The Delhi Police contended that the accused had slipped away with the hard disk of a laptop seized from Ghandy on Sep 20 last year.

Police also claimed the accused acted as a key facilitator for Ghandy in establishing a Maoist base in Delhi and also helped him procure fake identity and PAN cards.

Police had chargesheeted Ghandy, accused of trying to set up a network of the banned outfit, under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, besides booking him for cheating, forgery and impersonation.

An alumni of the prestigious Doon School, Ghandy was said to be part of the top leadership of erstwhile CPI-ML (People's War Group) from 1981 and continued as a Central Committee member in CPI-Maoist.