Maoist commander arrested from Hooghly

The state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested Chandrabhushan Yadav, a top Maoist commander operating in Jharkhand. Yadav has been arrested from Hooghly Station Road near Sahagunj on Friday afternoon.

A sum of Rs 67,000 and a mobile phone were recovered from him.

According to a senior official of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Yadav used to operate in the forests of Jharkhand. For the last few months, he has been living at his Sahaganj hideout.

“While interrogating Chhatradhar Mahato, we came to know about the hideout of Yadav and began conducting raids in several places in Hooghly,” said Anuj Sharma, Special DIG, CID.

Yadav was going to a visit a doctor when he was picked up around 2 pm, said an officer. Later, he was brought to the CID headquarters at Bhawani Bhawan, where senior officers interrogated him.

“We arrested him after a specific tip-off about his hideout. A Jharkhand Police team is likely to come to the CID headquarters tomorrow to take Yadav in custody. Our officers are interrogating him at present,” said Raj Kanojia, additional director-general, CID.

Sources in the CID said Yadav (40) — a resident of Jharkhand — is a zonal commandant of the banned ultra-Left outfit. He used to train the members of the People Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA), the militant wing of the outfit.

“Earlier, the Jharkhand government had announced a reward of Rs 12 lakh for his capture,” said a senior CID official. Yadav fled from Jharkhand following the announcement. The Jharkhand police have slapped several cases against him.

Before coming to Sahagunj,

Yadav stayed in rented houses in Dum Dum in North 24-Parganas and Konnagar in Hooghly. He had been staying at his relative’s house at Sahagunj for the last couple of months. He was picked up by the sleuths of the CID while he was going to visit a doctor.

The Orissa and Jharkhand Police, along with the state CID, meanwhile, are conducting search operations in several parts of the state to arrest the Maoist leaders and commanders. “We are getting important information from Mahato,” an officer said. “We will use all the data we have got from him and arrest the Maoist leaders and commanders.”

Government trying to malign Chhatradhar: top Maoist leader

Top Maoist leader Kishenji on Friday claimed that the state government and the police were out to malign arrested tribal leader Chhatradhar Mahato in a bid to take away people’s support for his movement in Lalgarh.

“The government by maligning Chhatradhar, who was spearheading agitations against alleged police excesses in Lalgarh, is trying to destroy a people’s movement,” he said.

He contested the police’s claim of Mahato owning huge property, bank accounts and an insurance policy of Rs 1 crore, saying, “If it is true let them seize the property and disclose the relevant documents to the press.” PTI