Odisha to seek remand of top Maoist arrested by police in Andhra Pradesh

Odisha police will seek the remand of a top Maoist leader who was arrested in Andhra Pradesh two days ago.

Odisha police will seek the remand of a top Maoist leader who was arrested in Andhra Pradesh two days ago.

Sriramula Srinivas alias Sudarshan (55), a member of the central committee of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist), was arrested near Wyra in Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh bordering Odisha’s Malkangiri district.

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“As he is involved in at least ten serious crimes in Odisha’s Malkangiri district, a police team has gone to Andhra Pradesh to interrogate Sudarshan. We will discuss the matter with the team on their return and accordingly file a petition seeking his remand,” Malkangiri superintendent of police Akhileswar Singh said on Monday.

Singh said Sudarshan was involved in a series of improvised explosive device (IED) blasts including the one that killed four Border Security Force personnel in February last year in the district. He had been given the responsibility to strengthen the organisation of the CPI (Maoist)’s Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee in Malkangiri, he added.

In Andhra Pradesh, Sudarshan carried a reward of Rs 20 lakh and was said to be involved with several high profile cases including an assassination bid on former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu in 2003 and murder of former home minister A Madhava Reddy.

Police in Malkangiri had earlier arrested Sudarshan, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, in July 2007. However, he was released on bail in April 2011 as part of a deal by the Odisha government in exchange of former Malkangiri collector R Vineel Krishna, who had been abducted by the CPI (Maoist) in February 2011.

But Andhra Pradesh police took him to custody soon after his release for his involvement in cases in that state. He was later released on bail from an Andhra Pradesh jail in November 2011 and since then had been back to Maoist fold.