In a major achievement during the ongoing anti-Naxal drive in the State, the Jharkhand Police on Wednesday succeeded in arresting Special Area Committee (SAC) Member Shivdayal Singh, alias Ritlal, alias Rohit Ji, alias Pawan Ji from Pithoria in Ranchi.
According to police, Rohit, the Maoist mastermind in his late fifties, was arrested while he was heading towards Pithoria to meet his family members.
"Acting on a tip-off that SAC member Rohit was spotted in the Nakari jungles of Patratu to meet his family members in Patratu, a police team under the leadership of ASP (Operations) was formed which intercepted him near a culvert at Nakari," said Ranchi SSP Prabhat Kumar.
"When interrogated, he identified himself initially as Shiv Prasad Singh but when he was searched properly, some Naxal literatures concealed in a plastic bag were recovered from him," he added.
According to the SSP, when he was further interrogated strictly he accepted that he was closely linked to the CPI (Maoists) and presently associated with the organisation as a SAC member.
"Being a SAC member, as per the recent notification of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Rohit qualifies for having a bounty of Rs 25 lakh on his head which will be distributed among the policemen involved in the operation as well those who provided intelligence inputs to the police leading to his arrest," the SSP added.
On the tip-off of Rohit, the police carried out raids at various locations succeeding in collecting some crucial evidences as well as information against him. The SSP said that the police will further take him into custody and try to extract some more crucial information from the Maoist mastermind who is said to the second in command in Jharkhand after Arvind.
Originally, Rohit hails from Shivnan village of Jahanabad in Bihar and was said to be involved in over 100 cases registered in Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh. Besides, he is also wanted in several cases lodged at Simdega, Gumla, lohardaga, latehar and other adjoining States.
According to the police records, he has been associated with the CPI unit organisation since 1984, and was a State Committee Member when PWG and CPI merged with each other.
The SSP also confirmed that Rohit started working as a SAC member of CPI (Maoists) from the year 2004. The sources also confirmed that Rohit was being treated in Ranchi after one of his legs got fractured by staying at the house of one Satyendra Singh at Patratu. It was, however, not known as how his leg did get fractured.