RANCHI: Wanted Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad (JJMP) Zonal Commander Chotelal Yadav alias Chote Yadav, also accused of burning 12 policemen alive in 2012 was arrested from Kuti More on Ramgarh - Chainpur Road, under Chainpur Police Station in Palamu district of Jharkhand.
Yadav, having a bounty of Rs 10 lakh on his head, has more than 10 FIRs registered against him in different Police Stations of the region. Police said that Yadav is also accused of killing 12 policemen, including officer in charge of Bhandaria Police Station, by blowing up a police vehicle after triggering a landmine near Bariganwa jungles of Garhwa in 2012 and when some of the policemen tried to get out of it, the rebels fired on them from point-blank range killing all of them and took away their arms.
"On a tip-off that Chotelal Yadav was coming towards Chainpur for organizational work, a team was formed headed by Additional Superintendent of Police (Operations) Arun Kumar Singh to arrest him. Barricading was done at Kuti More where two persons coming on a motorcycle were spotted coming towards it, but they starting running away as soon as they saw the policemen. The policemen caught hold on one of the person after chasing them to a distance, while the other person escaped taking advantage of darkness," said Palamu SP Indrajeet Mahtha.
He has been identified as Chotelal Yadav and the other person who escaped is said to be his close aide Sanjay Yadav, he added. During interrogation, Chotelal Yadav admitted that he had joined CPI (Maoist) in 2008 during which he executed several naxal incidents like murder, arson and levy collection. Later in 2012 he joined JJMP, an offshoot of CPI (Maoist), and became Zonal Commander after killing two of his senior leaders. EoM