ROURKELA: The arrest of top Maoist leader Prashant Bose (75) alias Kishan Da along with his wife Sheela Marandi from Sareikela of Jharkhand has come as a relief for Rourkela police as it may help contain the rebels’ activities in the adjacent Saranda forest.
Kishan, who carried a reward of Rs 1 crore on his head, was a Politbureau member of the banned CPI (Maoist). Rourkela police had arrested the couple in 2006 when Kishan was a Central Committee member of the banned outfit. Although Kishan Da was not directly involved in organisational activities for the last several years due to health issues, his arrest is significant for police of many states as he is considered a source of motivation for the insurgents.
The vast border pockets of Sundargarh district have been on the receiving end of disruptive activities originating from the Maoist hotbed of Saranda forest in Jharkhand. Amid increased pressure of security forces from Jharkhand and Odisha, the rebels have not been able to operate freely in Saranda and its bordering areas. Due to this, the rebels’ presence has nearly diminished in Sundargarh for the last three years.
However, the Maoist operatives carefully use the vast forest stretch of Bonai sub-division in the district as a transit route and for short stays. The Maoists’ last exchange of fire with Rourkela police had taken place in April 2018 in Lunga forest of Bonai sub-division and a camp was later destroyed by the security forces in July 2018.
Rourkela SP Mukesh K Bhamoo said Kishan is an ideological force for the outlawed outfit and its cadres, adding his arrest is a relief for many states. There is no room for complacency and Rourkela police is vigilant as Maoist leader Anmol Hembram alias Samarjee continues to be active in Saranda and keeps hopping between Odisha and Jharkhand, he added.
Till 2012, the outfit’s Eastern Regional Bureau (ERB) covering Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal had its headquarters in Saranda. However, with Jharkhand government deploying nearly half a dozen CRPF battalions and setting up more than a dozen camps at Saranda’s strategic locations the Kishan-led ERB gradually became defunct.
Sheela alias Sobha, the national chief of Maoist’s frontal organization Nari Mukti Manch, was arrested with two close aides from Lathikata by Rourkela police on October 7, 2006. In July 2007 she was taken by Jharkhand police and kept in different jails of Jharkhand till November 4, 2015. She was immediately rearrested by Rourkela police and released from special jail on February 20,2016 on bail.