Top Maoist leader arrested in Delhi

“He has been with the CPI (Maoist) for last many years and was in-charge of expanding the party in urban areas. He “is widely acknowledged as an ideologue and was also in-charge of the party’s publication wing,and played a crucial role in getting international recognition to the party,” a senior police official said. “He was staying alone in Delhi but he has sympathizers here. We are checking his visits,mobile phone details and accounts to know about his contacts here in Delhi,” a senior police official said.

The police,however,did not disclose details about the place he was arrested from or recoveries made from him. The police is also clueless about the motive behind his stay in Delhi.

Gandhi has worked in Maharashtra,Andhra Pradesh,Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh. His wife Anuradha Gandhi,a founder member of the CPI-ML and Vidyarthi Pragatisheel Sanghatana (VPS) in Maharashtra,died some time ago.

The Gandhis worked with tribals and beedi workers in Chandrapur before moving to tribals areas in Maharashtra’s Dhule and Nandurbar districts. But after their peers and top CPI (Maoist) leaders Madanlal,Murli,Arun Fereira,Vernon Gonsalves and Vishnu were arrested by the police,the Gandhis went underground.

Gandhi will now be handed over to Jharkhand Police. “The Jamshedpur police officials have been informed about his arrest and they may arrive in a few days to take his custody. Till now,we have not found him involved in any unlawful activity in Delhi but we are trying to know if he had any link with any Maoist arrested in Delhi earlier,” a police official said.