Assam Police on Friday claimed to have arrested two top Maoist leaders from near Guwahati and recovered some arms and ammunition from their possession.
Inspector General of Police (Central Western Region) lR Bishnoi said this on Friday while adding that both the cadre were arrested from Jorabat on the Assam-Meghalaya border near Guwahati. The two were identified as Aklanta Rabha and Siraj Rabha, he said.
“Both the cadre were on their way to Meghalaya to spread Maoist ideology in some Khasi villages. We had a tip-off and nabbed them in the morning. The operation was jointly carried out by Assam Police, CRPF and the Intelligence wing of the Army,” said Bishnoi.
Police have recovered one .22 pistol made in Spain and 6 live bullets from Aklanta Rabha while 240 rounds of live ammunition, including 140 rounds of 9 mm pistol and 100 rounds of SlR have been recovered from Siraj Rabha.
Aklanta is also known as Maheshji alias Saikia and he is fluent in 10 languages.
“Both were very senior cadre. Aklanta is the lone member of the Maoists Central Committee from Assam. He is also the overall in-charge for Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura. On the other hand, Siraj is one of the top arms trainer based in Jharkhand,” the IGP said, adding that both had been associated with the Maoists for more than last six years.
“They have revealed that they had already formed a core group and gradually spreading the Maoists ideology in Assam and also in Arunachal Pradesh, and Tripura. While most of their cadre are in Assam, they have also been trying to set up their camps in Arunachal Pradesh for its difficult geographical terrain,” Bishnoi said.
Bishnoi, who had been a member of the Assam Government’s Task Force on Maoists, said that according to his study there are over 180 cadre of the Maoists in Assam at present including some women cadre.
Maoism or left Wing Extremism (lWE) has been a recent phenomenon in Assam. The State Government had recently declared that the Maoist activities are growing in at least seven districts of the State, particularly in the tea belt.
“We have been questioning them since morning and found that they were working towards building a close relationship with the UlFA and other militant outfits of the region. They have also been trying to coordinate between all the militant outfits of the region to make it a more stronger force,” he said.
According to the police, the Maoists have so far carried out five activities in Assam including snatching of arms and ammunition from police and forest officials since November 2010.