NEW DELHI: In a major success for the counter-Naxal forces, top Maoist leader and an accused in the April 2010 Dantewada attack that killed 75 CRPF personnel, Hemant Mandavi alias Bijja, was arrested in Dantewada on Sunday.
The Chhattisgarh police, which made the arrest, claimed that he was involved in the murder of 136 civilians and security personnel and was leading Platoon no 1 of a CPI(Maoist) military company.
The Chhattisgarh police picked up Bijja after he was spotted and identified by some surrendered Naxal cadres during a procession in Dantewada. Though he initially claimed that he was only an ordinary tribal and a case of mistaken identity, the video of the attack at Tadmetla, Dantewada, seized earlier from Naxalites, nailed his lie. He is clearly visible in the video, according to an intelligence source. When confronted with the video, Bijja is said to have confessed to his being part of the armed Maoist group that killed 76 security personnel in a single ambush.
Bijja’s arrest comes days after a top tribal leader from Odisha with alleged Maoist links, Nachika Linga, surrendered in Koraput district of the state.
Linga, leader of the Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangha (CMAS), was wanted by the Odisha police after as many as 43 cases were registered against him. There was non-bailable warrants (NBW) against Nachika Linga’s name in 23 cases.
The Odisha police had been hunting for Linga since 2009, after he led an attack on a police station at Narayanpatna. He is said to have carried a Rs 25 lakh reward.
Linga had set up CMAS with the alleged help of left wing extremists, with the aim of demanding land settlement in Narayanpatna and Badhugaon blocks of Koraput district.
