BERHAMPUR: A teacher, who had Maoist links and was booked once, was among four fugitives Gajapati police arrested as part of its drive under ‘Operation Garuda’ over the past two days.
Adava police arrested Pratap Kumar Nayak, a primary school teacher, for his alleged links with Maoists on Tuesday. Nayak has been working at Nuakhajuripada government primary school in Adava and was earlier booked in 2011 for alleged involvement with a Maoist organisation and participation in violent incidents across various locations.
Gajapati SP Jatindra Kumar Panda said several other teachers in Adava, Mohana and R Udayagiri face similar allegations of Maoist links and illegal ganja trafficking and have been asked to surrender.
Police have also sent letters to the block education officer regarding the matter. “If they fail to surrender, they will be arrested wherever they are”, said the SP. However, Mohana block education officer Narendra Behera said so far his office has not received any such letter from the police. “If any letter arrives naming a teacher, appropriate action will be taken as per government regulations,” he added.
In a separate case, Adava police arrested three brothers- Soho Sobhasundar (58), Alix Sobhasundar (60) and Tej Sobhasundar (62) of Aliganda village in connection with a 2006 family quarrel case on Thursday. The three were produced in court on the day.