MUMBAI: The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Maharashtra police have arrested seven members of a banned Maoist outfit from Mumbai. They are being interrogated for their role in the recent Bhima Koregaon riots in the state, sources said.
Upon getting credible information about a Maoist leader arriving at Kalyan, the ATS kept a vigil and arrested him on Friday. During interrogation, he revealed that he and his cronies were working for CPI (Maoist) and revealed their locations. This enabled the police team to nab six more people from Kamraj Nagar, Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar in Vikroli and Ghatkopar area of the city. Incriminating documents related to the banned organisation too was recovered during the action, the sources have said.
The seven men arrested by the ATS are aged between 30 and 52 and are originally from Nalgonda, Karimnagar and adjoining areas of Telangana. They were residing in Kamrajnagar of Vikhroli, Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar of Ghatkopar and Dombiwali in Eastern suburbs of Mumbai, which were some of the most troubled areas during the bandh after the Bhima Koregaon clashes in the first week of the year. The ATS hopes to find more of them and hence their identities have been withheld, officials said.
Maoists had declared parts of Maharashtra and Gujarat as ‘Golden Corridor’ for propagation of their ideology and the seven accused had been working for the Golden Corridor Committee. They were in touch with LWE cadres from forest divisions.All of them have been remanded to police custody till Monday.
Banned outfit
The seven men of the banned outfit CPI (Maoist) arrested by the ATS are aged between 30 and 52 and are originally from Nalgonda, Karimnagar and adjoining areas of Telangana. They were residing in Kamrajnagar of Vikhroli, Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar of Ghatkopar and Dombiwali in Eastern suburbs of Mumbai. These were some of the most troubled areas during the bandh after the Bhima Koregaon clashes in the first week of the year.