Top Maoist leader held from Pune

MURALIDHARAN, ONE OF THE SENIOR LEADERS OF THE BANNED COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MAOIST), WAS ON THE RUN FOR 39 YEARS

PUNE: A top Maoist leader, K Muralidharan, who had been evading arrest for 39 years, was arrested by the Pune AntiTerror Squad (ATS) at Talegaon Dabhade, along with one more alleged Maoist.

Muralidharan, one of the senior leaders of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), goes by various names, such as Commander, Ajith and Thomas Joseph. He is believed to have been active in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and even Jharkhand, said ATS sources. The man arrested with him has been identified as Ismail Hamja CP alias Pravin, 29, a resident of Mallapuram in Tamil Nadu.

Pune AT S inspector Bhanupratap Barge said both were arrested from a rented flat at Sant Tukaram Nagar, Talegao Dabhade, on Saturday morning. Five mobile phones, five SIM cards and a laptop were recovered from the duo. Both were produced before a local court and remanded in police custody for seven days.

This is the second high-profile arrest of a Maoist leader in the past 10 days. A couple from Kerala — Roppesh and Shyna — both alleged to be active Maoists, was arrested from Coimbatore last week.

Muralidharan is believed to be a resident of Kochi. In 1976, he was one of the prime accused in the attack on Kayanna police station in Kerala. He was arrested and released on bail, and had been absconding ever since. Sources in the ATS said according to the Kerala police’s records, Muralidharan was dead. However, recent investigations revealed he was active in the Pune region for almost a year.

Muralidharan’s arrest is being seen as a major breakthrough, in the light of recent incidents showing a rising influence of Maoists in the Pune region. According to the ATS, he was trying to spread the CPI (M)’s network in Pune.