BHUBANESWAR: A militia member of Maoists, who was involved in the Chamundia beat-house torching case in 2016, was arrested by police in Senepuri forest near Badasilinga in Nayagarh district on Thursday. The arrested Maoist, Santosh Majhi (35), had been working with the Kalahandi-Kandhamal- Boudh-Nayagarh (KKBN) division of the outlawed outfit for the past three years.
A resident of Sagadabhanga under Bania police limits, he was the prime accused in the forest beat house torching incident which occurred at Jhuti Sahi of Gania block in July 2016. Nayagarh SP KV Singh said the District Voluntary Force (DVF) led by Khandapada SDPO and IIC Bania carried out a raid on a rest shed on Badasilinga- Gochabari route. Three Maoists were asleep when the forces apprehended them.
Two associates of Majhi escaped during the raid. One of them has been identified as Bipina, while the other’s identity is yet to be established. Majhi and a dozen of his associates had damaged the beat house and set fire to a jeep which were being used for anti-poaching operations in Nayagarh Forest Division. Majhi was booked under several Sections of the IPC, Explosives Act and Arms Act. He was produced in the court and remanded in judicial custody on Friday. The police may seek his custodial remand in a few days, sources said.