Senior Maoist leader held in Assam

A senior Maoist leader identified as Anukul Chandra Naskar alias Pareshji, who is also a politburo member of the CPI (Maoist), was arrested by a joint team of the Andhra Pradesh Police and Assam Police.

A senior official in the Assam home department informed that the Maoist leader was picked up on Wednesday from Silchar town in South Assam. He hails from Balia under Sonapur police station in South 24 parganas district in West Bengal. He had joined the MCC way back in 1967 and had risen to the rank of a politburo member in 2004, after the merger of the MCC and People’s War Group.

Guwahati City SSP AP Tiwari said Naskar alias Pareshji was arrested from a house on the outskirts of Silchar town by a joint team of the Andhra Police (SIB) and Guwahati City Police. 

He was then shifted to Guwahati where he is being interrogated by a team of IB officials as well as the Andhra Pradesh and Assam police.

The police said they are yet to ascertain the reason behind the presence of the senior Maoist leader in Silchar in southern Assam. Police suspects that he might have been there looking for shelter to dodge the fresh countrywide operations carried out against Maoists.

Earlier on April 26, the Assam Police had arrested two top Maoist leaders from the Assam-Meghalaya boundary area on the outskirt of Guwahati city. One of them, Aklanta Rabha alias Maheshji, is the lone central committee member of the CPI(ML)-Liberation from the entire Northeastern region. The other was Siraj Rabha alias Bijoy Rabha, chief training instructor of the Maoists for Jharkhand state. Both were travelling to Meghalaya to hold a meeting with the local Khasi youth.

The police also recovered from their possession one .22 Spanish-made pistol and 240 rounds of ammunition, and four mobile phones. Aklanta Rabha was wanted by the Assam Police since 2011.

Aklanta Rabha joined the Maoist rebel group in 1996 and is permanently based in the Northeast. He visits Jharkhand on two occasions every year to attend the central council meetings. Siraj Rabha was in Assam for the first time since 2007 when he had shifted to Jharkhand.

Aklanta Rabha, a BA final year drop-out, had earlier in 1991 formed a rebel group called Rabha Security Force, which was subsequently disbanded in 1996. He then joined the Maoist group that elevated him to a central committee member in 2002, the IGP said.