Security forces have arrested three members of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) who were planning to hang banners and distribute pamphlets in the Gangloor area of the insurgency-hit Bijapur in Chhattisgarh on June 16.
The development occurred when a joint team of CRPF, along with the personnel from the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and district police, were out on a combing operation on June 16 where they arrested three members of the Dandakaranya Adivasi Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan (DAKMS), a frontal organisation of the banned CPI Maoist from Pusnar village under Gangloor police station limits of Bijapur.
The accused have been identified as Bhima Punem, Sukku Dhruva, and Ramesh Punem. The joint team also seized explosives, including a tiffin bomb, pamphlets and other Maoist literature from the possession of the Left Wing Extremists.
The arrest of the Ultras came hours after the security forces apprehended another sympathiser of the Maoist organisation from a tractor showroom in Bijapur town. As per the reports, the arrested Maoist cadre visited the John Deere showroom to buy a tractor on behalf of the Maoist, where the police arrested him.
It’s been reported that the accused Maoist sympathiser has been identified as Dinesh Tati, a resident of Palnar village under Gangloor police station of Bijapur. It’s been learnt that after his arrest, Tati initially tried to mislead the police, stating that he is a member of some NGO. However, during interrogation, he finally admitted to working for the proscribed Maoist outfit.
The police team have also seized a whopping Rs 10 lakh in cash (all in 2000 notes) from the accused’s possession. It’s been learnt that Tati informed the police that he had received the cash from the Maoist leaders of the Gangloor Area Committee of the banned outfit.
It is to be noted that this is not the first time that the security forces have seized cash in Rs 2000 notes from the Maoists, and earlier, a joint of District police and DRG had also arrested two Maoist sympathisers with Rs 6 lakh in cash (all in Rs 2000 notes) from Mahadev Ghat region of Bijapur.
It was then reported that the accused were on their route to Rekha Palli village to deposit the cash when the joint team arrested them and seized the cash from their possession. Upon enquiry, it was revealed that Rs 8 lakh, in 2000 notes, were given to them by the Maoist platoon commander Kalpesh, of which around Rs 2 lakh had already been deposited in different accounts.
It was learnt that both the Maoist sympathisers were members of the Maoist frontal organisations and belonged to Basaguda of Bijapur. The joint team had also seized as many as 11 bank passbooks from the accused’s possession.
It is being speculated that the Maoist organisation is looking for ways to either deposit or invest the 2000 notes in their possession after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a directive about withdrawing Rs 2000 notes from circulation in a phased manner and gave a timeframe to deposit them in banks or exchanges till September 30.
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