Kolkata: Foxing the joint forces for a
second time in two years in junglemhal, top Maoist leader
Koteswar Rao alias Kishenji and a close woman aide escaped
from West Midnapore district in West Bengal into Jharkhand.
"We had strong information that Kishenji and Suchitra,
the wife of a slain state committee member were hiding in the
jungles of Nalbani, Lalbani and Khusbani in Jhargram area of
West Midnapore district," a top Counter Insurgency Force
officer told reporters on condition of anonymity.
The joint forces were alerted by the arrest of five
Maoist 'village defence squad' members, who comprised the
outermost ring of four rings usually assigned to protect a top
leader such as Kishenji.
"When we broke the outermost ring Kishenji and
Suchitra fled to Jharkhand before we could seal the area
completely," the officer said.
"According to our information, for the last one year
after the death of state committee member Sasadhar Mahato in
March 2011, Kishenji has been staying with Suchitra," a senior
CRPF officer told.
This was for the second time Kishenji escaped after
March 2010 when he was reportedly injured in a gunbattle with
the joint forces at Lakhanpur jungle under Kotwali police
station area in the same district.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, November 23, 2011, 20:39