Odisha:Cops unearth Maoist dump in Rayagada
Report by Kishore Dash, Rayagada: IN a huge haul, the district police and 8th Battalion of Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF) unearthed a huge explosives and arms dump near Saplaguda forest area under Maoist hotbed Chandrapur police limits on Tuesday evening.
Basing on the input given by Ramesh Tama@ Dasarath@Lakshmu, the self-styled Deputy Commander of Kashipur-Niyamgiri division who was nabbed recently, the cops raided the forest area bordering Andhra Pradesh and found the dump, told Superintendent of Police Anoop Krishna in a press note.
Better known as an IED expert, Deputy Commander (SLR Cadre) Dasarath, a native of Bijapur district in Chhatisgarh along with Kmbulu Majhi, @ Abhilas and Chinatamani Majhi were apprehended last week by the Rayagada police during an anti-Maoist operation Kashipur Tikiri PS area while they were on the way to Barigaon village under Laxmipur police limits in Koraput district.
Dasarath who was involved in series of offences like,killing of Laxmana nanda Saraswoti., Kailash Majhi and Sashi Majhi in village kanjagmandi under Kashipur police limits, CRPF Hav Tek Chand near Hanumantpur , Siba Sankar Sabar and Bibhisana Sabar under under Chandrapur police limits, Gopi Lima under Gudari police limits involved in Nayagaraha and Dangsarada out post attack was revealed a lot of information during interrogation,police sources said.
The arms and ammunition recovered from the site included six landmines, one country- made pistol, 10 rounds of 8mm ammunitions and electronic detonators. The recovery of explosives came at a time when the rebels have called for the success of the martyrs' week from July 28 in Andhra-Orissa Border. The rebels were planted the dump with an intention to target the cops during combing operations, police said.
Odisha:Cops unearth Maoist dump in Rayagada, Orissa Current News
Key Maoist leader Arnab held in Purulia
KOLKATA: Arnab Dam alias Bikram, a Maoist state committee member, was arrested in a Purulia village on Monday. This is the biggest success for security forces in Jangalmahal since the killing of Kishanji in November last year. Arnab had an AK-47 and 30 bullets but did not put up a fight.
An IIT-Kharagpur dropout, 31-year-old Arnab was the mastermind behind gruesome incidents like the murder of seven members of a Forward Bloc family, and the abduction and murder of police inspector Partha Sarathi Biswas and teacher Saumyajit Basu in Purulia in the last three-four years, say police.
Pressure from security forces and the killings of some of his trusted aides in encounters pushed him deeper and deeper into the Jharkhand border. The rigours of being constantly on the run took a toll on his health and he contracted tuberculosis.
"Security forces had information that Arnab would come to meet someone at Biramdih village in Balarampur on the foothills of Ayodhya hill range on Monday night. We were waiting for him," said DIG Midnapore range L K Meena. Sources said Bikram has already helped police recover three.303 rifles hidden in a village.
Arnab, a science graduate, is a resident of Subhashgram near Sonarpur, South 24-Parganas, barely 20km from the city. His father is a retired judicial magistrate. He joined the Maoist student and youth wings in college and in 2001, expressed his wish to join the underground wing. Within a week, he was taking arms training in Jharkhand. He later sent to Chhattishgarh for further training.
His educational background and sharp political knowledge quickly took him close to the senior leadership of the outfit and he was inducted as an important member of the party's Bengal state committee. He started his underground rebel career as Rakesh and was given charge of Purulia and the Bengal-Jharkhand border zone. As a leader of party's border regional committee he worked under the name of Surya. Another young Maoist leader Ranjit Pal alias Tarit was deputed to assist Arnab in Purulia.
While Arnab worked on widening the political base of Maoists, Tarit was in charge of the military wing. They turned parts of Purulia into a liberated zone. Using the treacherous terrain of the Ayodhya range and the adjoining Dalma hills, they struck terror in villages. The Tarit-Arnab pair turned the Ayodhya platoon into the most deadly PLGA team in Bengal, say police.
During the Lalgarh agitation, when Arnab took the alias Bikram, he and Tarit were asked to lead the border zone under the direct command of the party's "eastern regional bureau" while Kishanji was camping in Jhargram. They floated the Adibasi Mulabasi Janaganer Committee in Purulia as a frontal mass outfit like the Peoples Committee Against Police Atrocities in Lalgarh.
Arnab was allowed to issue press releases, which suggests his importance in the party ranks. Party insiders say his political thought often clashed with Kishanji's and his press releases sometimes didn't match the party state committee line. Soon after the assembly polls, he was instructed to stop issuing separate press releases. Cornered, his situation became difficult when Tarit was withdrawn from the Purulia front. In the middle of the internal turmoil, the Purulia Maoist unit lost several important members. Some were arrested, many others killed.
Bikram was forced to retreat with a small band of rebels into the remotest parts of the Ayodhya range. Sources hinted that the differences of political opinion Arnab had with the leadership may have led him to part ways with the party. Police feel confident that with his help they can track down Tarit and get details of the Maoist strategy.
Key Maoist leader Arnab held in Purulia - The Times of India