West Bengal STF detained Maoist couple Samir Mahato and Malti Murmu in Salboni after the interrogation of senior Maoist leader Asim Mandal
KOLKATA: The Maoist network operating for more than two decades along the Jharkhand-West Bengal border has suffered another major setback with the arrest of two key cadres—five-lakh-rupee bounty Maoist Samir alias Mangal Mahato and his wife Malti Murmu, who carried a two-lakh-rupee reward.
The couple was apprehended by the West Bengal Special Task Force (STF) from the Salboni police station area of West Midnapore y. However, it remains unclear whether the two were arrested during an operation or surrendered before the security forces. Police have not yet officially clarified the circumstances surrounding their detention.
The development came after the interrogation of senior CPI (Maoist) leader Asim Mandal alias Akash, whose arrest by the West Bengal STF had already dealt a significant blow to the Maoist organisation’s activities in the Jharkhand-Bengal border belt.
According to information emerging from police investigations and interrogation of arrested and surrendered Maoist cadres, the arrest of Mangal and Malti could mark another important stage in the weakening of the underground network that remained active in the forests and hilly terrain along the border.
Sources said Mangal and Malti had left the forest after the Maoist organisation’s activities in the region came under sustained pressure from security forces. The two reportedly hid their weapons in the forest, removed their Maoist uniforms and moved towards West Midnapore. They are believed to have been staying at the house of a relative of another recently arrested Maoist, Madan Mahato, in Sarberia village under Salboni police station. The couple had reportedly remained underground for years and were closely associated with senior Maoist leader Asim Mandal. Their movements came under the scanner following Mandal’s arrest and subsequent interrogation.
Mangal and Malti had earlier operated in the forests of Jharkhand and West Bengal as members of Maoist squads. Their reported arrest is significant because, according to information gathered during the investigation, they were among the last active members of Mandal’s group.
Mangal and Malti’s association with the Maoist movement dates back several years. Both were initially linked with the late Maoist leader Koteshwar Rao alias Kishanji, a prominent Politburo member and one of the principal leaders of the Lalgarh movement.
They reportedly served as Kishanji’s bodyguards. After Kishanji was killed in an encounter in 2011, the two became associated with Asim Mandal, then secretary of the West Bengal State Committee of the CPI (Maoist).
For several years, they remained active with Mandal in the forested areas along the Jharkhand-West Bengal border. They were subsequently elevated to positions in the Maoist organisational structure and became members of a zonal committee, according to police-related information. Mangal reportedly carried an AK-47, while Malti was known to operate with an INSAS rifle.
According to information attributed to his family members, Mangal Mahato joined Maoist activities in 2008. He initially worked as a courier before becoming a member of an armed squad. Around 2009, when he was preparing to appear for a Class IX examination, he reportedly left home and joined the armed underground movement. He later became associated with the Lalgarh movement and was eventually appointed as a bodyguard of Kishanji.
At the time of Kishanji’s death in 2011, Mangal was reportedly present at the encounter site along with another cadre, Suchitra Mahato. He allegedly managed to escape through the security forces’ cordon.
Following Kishanji’s death, Mangal and Malti reportedly joined Asim Mandal’s group and went underground in the Jharkhand-Bengal border region.
Malti Murmu’s entry into the Maoist movement reportedly took place at a very young age. According to information available to investigators, she joined a Maoist squad when she was around 15 years old.
Her mother had died when Malti was only two, while her father remained away from home for work. She subsequently lived with her uncle before becoming associated with the Maoist organisation. Mangal and Malti later married while remaining underground members of the organisation in what Maoist cadres referred to as a ‘Comrade Marriage’.
Malti was subsequently associated with a Maoist area committee and carried a two-lakh-rupee bounty announced by Jharkhand Police.
The weakening of the Maoist network in the region followed sustained security operations in the forests of Jharkhand and West Bengal.
A major encounter in Saranda reportedly resulted in the death of Politburo member Anal Da and several other Maoists. The subsequent arrest of Politburo member Misir Besra from Giridih further increased pressure on the organisation.
Following these developments, Asim Mandal was reportedly forced to leave the Saranda forests along with his remaining associates and move towards the Dalma foothills.
Even in the Dalma region, security forces continued to maintain pressure. The subsequent arrests of Madan Mahato, who carried a 15-lakh-rupee bounty, Sagar Singh, who carried a five-lakh-rupee bounty, and Meena, who carried a two-lakh-rupee bounty, further weakened the group. The arrests and surrenders gradually reduced the operational capacity of the Maoist organisation in the border region.
After the group began to disintegrate, Asim Mandal reportedly established his final hideout in the dense Jhatijharna forest in the Ghatshila area of East Singhbhum.
With security pressure increasing, Mandal allegedly decided to leave the forest. According to information emerging from the investigation, he concealed weapons in the forest during the last week of August, removed his Maoist uniform and assumed the appearance of an ordinary villager. He subsequently travelled towards his in-laws’ village in East Midnapore, where the West Bengal STF arrested him.
Mangal and Malti are believed to have followed a similar route after leaving the forest. They reportedly travelled to the Salboni area of West Midnapore and took shelter at a relative’s residence. Their reported arrest on Saturday followed the interrogation of Mandal, although the exact circumstances remain officially unclear.
West Bengal Police are expected to investigate possible weapon caches and other Maoist material based on information obtained from Asim Mandal, Mangal Mahato and Malti Murmu.
Investigators are likely to search forest areas along the Jharkhand-West Bengal border for weapons allegedly concealed by the cadres after they abandoned their underground operations.
The searches could include efforts to recover arms, ammunition, explosives, detonators and other materials reportedly hidden by the Maoists before they left the forests. Police are expected to establish the complete sequence of events only after such searches and further interrogation are completed.
The latest developments come against the backdrop of nearly 26 years of Maoist influence in several forested and hilly areas along the northern boundary of East Singhbhum. Dalma, Patamda, Barajamda, MGM, Ghatshila, Galudih, Dhalbhumgarh and Chakulia areas witnessed Maoist activity for years, particularly in remote forests and difficult terrain.
Maoist influence in the southern parts of Dumaria and Gudabandha had already declined considerably following the surrender of six cadres, including Kanhu Munda, in 2017. The reported arrest of Asim Mandal and the subsequent detention of Mangal and Malti now indicate another significant weakening of the Maoist presence in the northern border belt. The sequence of arrests, encounters and surrenders has progressively reduced the organisational strength of the underground network.
The developments along the Jharkhand-West Bengal border have brought the Maoist organisation to a critical stage in an area where it maintained an underground presence for decades.
According to information obtained from arrested and surrendered cadres, continued security operations and pressure from forces in both states made it increasingly difficult for the Maoists to sustain their activities in the forests.
Mandal’s reported decision to disband his remaining squad and allow the surviving cadres to choose their own course is being seen as a major development in the decline of the network.
With the reported arrest of Mangal Mahato and Malti Murmu, only further investigation will establish the extent of the remaining Maoist infrastructure, including possible weapon caches and contacts in the border region.
For security agencies, the focus is now expected to shift from the arrest of individual cadres to identifying and dismantling any remaining support network and recovering weapons and other material concealed in the forests.
