Maha to give Rs 2 cr to people sharing info on 5 key Maoists

| | Mumbai

Fresh from the success of eliminating a staggering 40 Maoists in two separate anti-naxal operations in Gadchroli district last month, the Maharashtra police on Thursday announced cash rewards amounting to a total of Rs 1.71 crore to people giving information about the whereabouts of five notorious Maoists holed up in jungles or “safe” places across the state.

In full-page advertisements in three leading newspapers in English, Marathi and Hindi published from different parts of the state, the Gadchiroli police sought information from the readers about five key naxal leaders from the banned Maoist outfit (CPI-M) so that they could track them and their cadres down as part of the ongoing anti-naxal campaign.

“After the recent anti-naxal operation, we thought it is a right time to go whole hog against the Maoist leaders and holed up in various parts of the state. That’s why we put up advertisements in three leading newspapers. Though we had published advertisements in Marathi and Hindi newspapers earlier, this is for the first time that we have put up an advertisement in a leading English newspaper so that we can create awareness among the people in urban areas as well,”  Gadchiroli’s Superintendent of Police Abhinav Deshmukh told The Pioneer in the evening.

The five Maoist leaders, about whom the Gadchorioli police have sought information about, are: Malojula Venugopal, alias Bhupati/Sonu/Vivek/Laxminarayan/Lachhana Abhay of Yedapalli village in Karimnagar, Andhra Pradesh ( Cash reward: Rs. 60 lakh), Sahyadri Teltumbde, alias Dipak/Miling/Pravin/Arun/Sudhir of Rajur village in Yavatmal, Maharashtra  ( Cash reward 50 lakh), Alluri Usharani Kirankumar alias Narmadakka ( Cash reward: Rs 25 lakh), Chimala Narsayya, alias Joganna/Ghisu of Ramgundam village in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh (Cash reward: Rs. 20 lakh) and Baburao Topha, alias Kumarsai Katlami/Tipu Sultan/Ashok/Pahadsing of Fafamar village in Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh ( Cash reward: Rs 16 lakh). The Total cash rewards for five Maoist leaders amount to Rs 1.71 crore.  

 “The Maoist leaders whom we are looking for not only fight in the jungles, but travel frequently to towns and cities for finances, food and medical stocks, clothes, uniforms and shoes, logistics support including procuring weapons, etc. However, they could be in disguise and hence difficult for people in the urban centres to recognize them as they go about their business. Our effort is to create awareness among people and  seek information from them about the wanted Maoist leaders,”  Deshmukh said.

Deshmukh said that the advertisements put out by the Gadchiroli police was part of the plan to flush out 190-odd naxal cadres holed up in rural and urban areas of the state.  “Our last estimate was that there were 230 naxal cadres operating from jungles and nearby rural areas, towns and cities. During our recent anti-naxal operations, we killed 40 Maoists. That leaves us with 190 Maoist cadres,” Gadchiroli SP said.

The advertisement headlined “Give information, Earn Millions”, which carries photographs and names of five wanted Maoists reads thus: “The above are photographs of Maoists who are wanted in various criminal offenses, They are members of banned organisation –CPI (Maoist). They are involved in violent activities against State and are responsible for killing thousands of innocent tribals. So please help police department in tracing them. Based on your information, if they are arrested or killed in exchange of fire with the police, you will receive the reward amount shown above. Your name and identity will be kept confidential”.   

Deshmukh said that once the police received information about the five key Maoist leaders, it would be easy for them to track down naxal cadres holed up in jungles and other “safe” places across the state.

“Given the positive atmosphere we have created in the wake of massive crackdown on the Maoists operating in the jungles of Gadchiroli district, we are optimistic of achieving more successes in our ongoing drive against Maoists in eastern Maharashtra,” Deshmukh said.

It may be recalled that 40 Maoists were killed in two separate operations carried out by the security agencies in the jungles of Gadchiroli district of eastern Maharashtra on April 22 and 23.

While 34 Maoists were killed in the first encounter undertaken jointly by the C-60 commandos of the Gadchiroli police and personnel from battalion 9 of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Boria-Tadgaon jungle of Bramhagad tehil on the morning of April 22, 6 left extremists were gunned down in the second operation carried out by the C-60 commandos in Ninar jungle of Jamalghatta sub-division in Gadchiroli district on the following evening.