Bihar cops claim key Naxal arrests

Three suspected Central Committee members of CPI (Maoist) were arrested in Katihar district of Bihar early on Friday morning. The three,according to Central agencies,were planning and organising attacks within the region. Though officials were tightlipped about the names of those held,sources said they had been identified as Varanasi Subramaniam,Jhantu Mukherjee and Vijay Kumar alias Jaspal.

The officials said Subramaniam was the northern regional bureau head who controlled Delhi,Haryana and Uttarakhand while Mukherjee was actively involved in Chhattishgarh. All three were being questioned by the Bihar Police as a team from New Delhi is also monitoring the situation and said their questioning was likely to throw more names of sympathisers and financiers. The Bihar Police has also sought assistance from the Andhra Police. The third,Vijay Kumar,is a senior cadre who looks after the operations in Bihar.

They are alleged to have been involved in attacks on security forces in the past including the recent ones in Bihar and Chhattishgarh.

When contacted,Bihar DGP Neelkanth refused to elaborate on the arrests but said,“We have caught three persons but their verification is going on. They are being examined.”