The sub-zonal Naxal commander Kamlesh Chaudhary, who was killed in an encounter with Sonebhadra police on Monday, had been a petty criminal of Chiutia area of Rohtas district in Bihar before he joined the People’s War Group in 1994. He drifted into the PWG from the world of crime, and not because of any ideological motivation, says the police.

Chaudhary (48) carried rewards of Rs 1 lakh from the Uttar Pradesh Police and Rs 50,000 from Bihar Police. As a sub-zonal commander, he was in charge of an area spread on the tri-junction of three states that included Bhabua and Rohtas in Bihar, Gadhwa in Jharkhand, and Sonebhadra and Ghazipur in UP. He was also responsible for raising funds for the organisation. His killing was the most important success of UP Police in its anti-Naxal operations in the last one decade.

The Peoples Union for Civil Liberties and the Songanga Vindhyachal Committee, which is affiliated with PWG, have alleged the Rohtas police had caught Chaudhary on November 8 along with four others. The Bihar police later handed over Kamlesh to the UP Police and they killed him in a stage-managed encounter, the two organisations have alleged.

However, Sonebhadra SP Preetinder Singh said the community policing drive, which they had initiated in tribal areas in the last two months, helped them reach Chaudhary. The tribals not only provided information about Chaudhary’s hideout in a deep jungle, but also helped the police reach there, he said.

Rohtas SP Vikas Vaibhav said Chaudhary had been an area commander of PWG active in Nauhatta, Chiutia and Rohtas areas of Bihar for three years before he shifted his base to bordering areas of UP. “By then, his name had figured in over a dozen killings, including those of policemen in Bihar,” said Vaibhav. “He later became the sub-zonal commander of the organisation and was engaged in extortion from contractors and businessmen in Bihar, Jharkhand and UP,” he added.

... contd.