Among the highly educated Naxal leaders, Narmada has been underground for the last 22 years. (Representative image)Senior Naxal cadre Narmada and husband Kiran were arrested by Gadchiroli police about two days ago from Hyderabad, as per reports. Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police Shailesh Balkawde didn’t respond to calls made to confirm the news, but a senior police official said ‘the news was correct’.
Her arrest is being seen as the second biggest blow to the Maoists after last year’s police ambush of 40 cadres in Etapalli tehsil.
“A cancer patient, Narmada was in Hyderabad for her second chemotherapy session, when the police arrested her along with husband,” the official said. The operation was carried out in tandem with the Special Intelligence Bureau of Telangana. Unconfirmed reports said the couple has been brought to Gadchiroli.
Narmada alias Aluri Krishna Kumari alias Sujathakka, aged around 60, is a native of Gudivada in Krishna district. She had been heading the Maoist operations in Gadchiroli division of CPI (Maoist) for more than a decade and had been named in scores of Naxal offences against security forces, including the ambush of 15 policemen on May 1.
She was relieved of her Gadchiroli responsibilities about eight months ago due to failing health. Currently, the task is headed by senior cadre member Prabhakar, also known as Padgal Sami.
She is also an absconding accused in the case involving Delhi University professor G N Saibaba, who was convicted for having Naxal links by a Gadchiroli court in 2017 and is currently in Nagpur’s Central Jail. She was named in the chargesheet as the Naxal leader to whom some material sourced from Saibaba was to be handed over by another arrested Naxal cadre Hem Mishra. Mishra was arrested at Aheri in Gadchiroli in 2013 along with the material.
“She was the main conduit between urban cadres and underground Naxal leadership. The urban cadres had to pass any communication to the top leaders through her. She was also the one through whom the leaders would pass on funds for the urban cadres,” another official said.
“Narmada was also allegedly closely associated with many urban cadres arrested in Koregaon-Bheema case,” he added.
Among the highly educated Naxal leaders, she has been underground for the last 22 years. Her husband Kiran Kumar alias Kiran Dada is a member of Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) of CPI (Maoist). 57-year-old Kiran is a native of Vijayawada. He was also the State committee member and looks after Prabhat magazine, a political organ of Maoist’s DKSZC apart from looking after propaganda unit, press and education.
