It appears that top Maoist Sabyasachi Panda was fond of gun as of gold.
Police seized more than 500 grams of gold from his possession when he was nabbed in Brahmapur. He was located in the Badabazar area of the city, the place where many residents are Telugu goldsmiths. The gold recovered from him included different ornaments liked by women.
Panda is said to have got caught in his bid to sell the gold for money. He used to keep the gold close to him, mostly in the laptop bag, as carrying cash was not easy for him.
Hi-tech Panda, who successfully used mobile phones and other gadgets, had been successful in cheating the police several times. He was using a dozen of mobile handsets.
Top police sources said Panda was staying in Brahmapur since February this year changing houses at least six times before being nabbed.
Even in his isolation, Panda’s morale was not as shattered as one would think. He started writing a book on his experience in the Maoist movement and his role in it.
People close to him also informed that Panda was in the process of recruiting more people in order to regroup his Odisha Maobadi Party while giving an impression to the police that he had shun violence. He did not pick up guns after the November 2012 encounter not because of his love for peace rather for lack of manpower in the group.
During this time, sources said, Panda had developed certain differences with his wife Subhashree, alias Mili, who all along tried to protect him despite knowing that her husband was on wrong path. He had no sanction for Subhashree’s participation in the last Assembly elections and her political activities, the sources said.
However, keeping her future in view and in a bid to pave way for her husband’s entry into electoral politics, Mili created a political platform.