Bhubaneswar: After a lull of over a fortnight
following the abduction of Malkangiri District Collector R
Vineel Krishna, police on Saturday arrested a prominent Maoist
leader from Orissa`s Bargarh district.
Bargarh Superintendent of Police Surya Thangapa said the
arrested Maoist was identified as Satrughna Biswal alias
Mangu, the second-in-command in CPI(Maoist)`s Orissa branch.
"We nabbed Satrughna Biswal from near the railway
station. He was identified as an active member of the Orissa
state organising committee of the out-lawed CPI(Maoist)," he
said.
Biswal, a resident of Ersama area in Jagatsinghour
district, is in-charge of the Maoist outfit in Bolangir,
Bargarh and Nuapada districts. A 9 mm pistol, 6 live bullets,
a letter to Moist leaders and other materials were seized from
his possession, Thangapa said.
The arrested Maoist, actively associated with Maoist
activities since 2006, is considered as next to Sabyasachi
Panda in the Maoist rank and file in the state.
Biswal is the first ultra to be apprehended after Orissa
government stopped combing operation since February 16 after
abduction of the Malkangiri Collector R Vineel Krishna.
PTI
