Kanchan Da alias Arun Kumar Bhattacharya was hiding in a tea garden in the Cachar district of Assam and was trying to set up a red corridor for Maoists in North East. He was also planning to acquire weapons for terror financing in Assam.
Guwahati: Top Maoist leader Kanchan Da alias Arun Kumar Bhattacharya was arrested by Assam police in Cacher district on Sunday (March 6) night. The dreaded Maoist was wanted in several cases across India, and security agencies declared a reward of 3 crores for his information.
He is a member of the central organising committee of CPI (Maoist), which is primarily responsible for Naxal terrorism in several states of India. Guwahati police commissioner Harmit Singh informed that arrested Maoist leader Kanchan Da was trying to set up the Maoist base in Assam and was hiding in Patimara tea garden in Cachar district of southern Assam.
The CPM (Maoist) leadership assigned Kanchan Da to set up bases in the North East, especially in Assam. Catching him is a big victory for the security agencies fighting for the sovereignty and integrity of the country, Singh added.
The police team also arrested another state leader of CPI (Maoist), Akash Orang alias Kajol who was assisting the wanted Naxal leader Kanchan Da. He is a member of All Assam Organising Committee of CPI (Maoist). At least 200 cases of anti-national activity, extortion, and illegal weapons are registered against the arrested Naxal terrorist Kanchan Da across India. The police team seized a laptop, some electronic devices, huge numbers of Maoist literature and Rupees 3 lakh 60 thousand cash from the possession of the Naxal leader.
Police commissioner Singh informed that the case would be handed over to NIA, as it is related to national security. A team of NIA top officials are on their way to Guwahati to interrogate the top Naxal leader. The CPI (Maoist) tasked the arrested Naxal leader to create a red corridor in Assam and other states of the North East for Maoist activities. He was also assigned to arrange a party congress in Assam and set up a core committee in Assam. He was also tasked to arrange weapons for terror funding and start extortion, which is the normal methodology of Naxal activity of gaining money. He was also tasked with influencing young people to join the terrorist organisation.
