In a major development, the Uttar Pradesh (UP) Anti Terror Squad (ATS) nabbed as many as five active cadres of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) from Basantpur village under Sahatwar police station, a bordering region under the Ballia district on August 16.
The arrest of the Maoist from the Purvanchal region which is otherwise considered free from the left wing insurgency have stormed the police department as it’s been revealed that the arrested cadres were indulged in augmenting the footprints of the proscribed group in the region by recruiting youths from Ballia and adjoining regions.
As per the information received, a team of the UP ATS raided and apprehended notorious female Maoist cadre Tara Devi alias Manju alias Manisha alongside arresting Lallu Ram, Satyaprakash, Ram Murat and Vinod Sahni. The ATS team also recovered a 9mm pistol, cartridges and extremist communist literature from the possession of the accused.
As per a report of the news 18 Special DG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said that the group was working to recruit the youth, their group’s expansion and conspiring to spread unrest in the country. He said that after the demise of the Central Committee member Sandeep Yadav Aka Badka Bhaiya, one Pramod Mishra formed a separate ad hoc group along with Santosh Verma, a resident of Ballia as its secretary.
It’s been reported that the said group regularly keeps moving in different districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh and was recruiting young men and women by brainwashing them for an armed rebellion against the Government of India.
Tara Devi alias Manisha
One of the arrested cadres, Tara Devi was reported to be the head of the women’s wing in the outfit who was indulged in recruiting youths and extorting money for the banned outfit. Tara is considered as a seasoned Maoist who was also involved in the infamous Madhuban dacoity case carried out by the cadres of outlawed CPI Maoist in which two policemen were killed.
She was associated with the Maoist group since 2005 and reported to be trained in Jungle warfare. She had been providing shelter to the senior Maoist leader Pramod Mishra alongside organising party membership drives and raising money for the proscribed outfit.
Arrest of Pramod Mishra
It is to be noted that the arrest of the Maoist from Ballia occurred days after another senior member of the outlawed CPI Maoist, Pramod Mishra was arrested in a swift operation launched by a joint team of Bihar police in Gaya district on August 10. Pramod Mishra, a member of the central committee of the outlawed outfit was arrested along with his associate Anil Yadav from Tikari Subdivision of Gaya.
After the arrest of Mishra it was revealed that he was working as the bureau chief of the Eastern Regional Bureau of the outlawed CPI Maoist and was assigned with the task of reviving the Maoist insurgency in the Bihar and Jharkhand region.
Mishra joined the left wing insurgency in 90s and rose to the ranks in the erstwhile Maoist Communist Centre (MCC), a far left extremist group responsible for wide scale violence, operating mainly in undivided Bihar. After the merger of the group with the People’s War Group in 2004, Mishra was promoted as a central committee member of the newly formed CPI Maoist.
Maoist held in Kaimur
Earlier in another development, the Kaimur police in a swift operation had busted a mini gun factory and nabbed three men associated with the newly appointed zonal commander of the Maoist group from Bardiha village under Aghaura police station limits of the Kaimur district on August 9.
Initial investigation had revealed that Vijay Shankar and others accused involved in gun making were tasked by Rohit Rai, newly appointed zonal commander of one of the Naxal groups active in the region. The accused were arrested on the inputs provided by Rohit Rai during the course of Interrogation following which a police team raided the house of Vijay Shankar and nabbed the three.
Interrogation of the accused suggested that the zonal commander, Rohit was involved in a plot to revive the insurgency in the region and was actively involved in fortifying the presence of his Naxal group on Kaimur Pahadi. It’s been also reported that Rohit was part of a group whose other members are yet to be arrested by the police.
Earlier the police had also arrested a man identified as Mukesh Kumar Sahni during a vehicle check exercise in Bhagwanpur police station limits in May. The police team had also recovered arms, manpack along with cartridges from the possession of the accused, though one of the associates of Sahni identified as Rohit Rai successfully evaded arrest and was absconding since then.
Rohit Rai, a resident of Maniyari under Bhabua police station limits along with his associate Pramod Yadav a resident of Gaya was arrested by the Aurangabad police and STF in a joint operation from the outskirts of Pema village under Goh police station limits of Aurangabad on Monday August 07. The joint team also seized 2 country made pistols along with cartridges and extremist literature from the possession of the accused.
Plot to revive Insurgency
It is to be noted that both Kaimur and Ballia are bordering districts, where the adjoining regions of Kaimur such as Chandauli and Mirzapur has been the hotbed of the Maoist insurgency for decades, while it was only after a decade and a half that Maoist activities have come to the fore in the Ballia districts. It is pertinent to mention here that the easternmost district of UP shared its border with Siwan and Saran districts of Bihar, a region close to the Champaran range, a hotbed of the left wing insurgency in Bihar.
Now after these back to back arrests made by the security forces it’s been speculated that a wider network of Maoist have been indulged in reviving the insurgency in the Purvanchal and other regions of Bihar where the left wing insurgency has been almost contained due to persistent efforts put up by the forces.
