E-Paper
Almora police unearth Maoist hideout in cave inside forest
The hideout was revealed based on the interrogation of the “last wanted Maoist leader” of Uttarakhand.
Almora police claimed to have unearthed a Maoist hideout located in a cave deep inside the forests of Buda Jageswhar area of Almora district in Uttarakhand. The hideout was revealed based on the interrogation of the “last wanted Maoist leader” of Uttarakhand, Bhaskar Pandey, by police, officials said.
Thirty-six-year-old Pandey, who was wanted with a bounty of ₹20,000 in a case registered during the 2017 state assembly elections, was arrested in Almora on September 13 in a joint operation by the special task force (STF) of Uttarakhand police and the Almora district police.
“Police found the hideout on Sunday from a cave located inside deep and dense forests of Buda Jageshwar area after Pandey revealed its location during his interrogation while in police remand. He used to often used the hideout to stay away from police,” said Pankaj Bhatt, senior superintendent of police, Almora.
Bhatt informed, “After tracing the hideout, police found several items from there including some Maoist publicity material, survival kit, tents, sleeping bag and other items of daily need.”
Bhatt said that Pandey was taken in police remand for two days on Friday for interrogation. “On Sunday, he revealed his hideout in Hariya top forests in Buda Jageshwar area.”
Earlier, when he was arrested, police claimed that he was in touch with the members of the Politburo of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) (CPI(M)) to revive the Maoist movement in the Himalayan state.
Pandey, who was in hiding since 2017 after being booked in three cases for trying to provoke the public against the government by putting anti-government posters and burning a government vehicle in an attempt to disrupt the 2017 state assembly polls, was nabbed on September 13 near Haridutt Pethshali Inter-college in Almora.
Director general of police, Ashok Kumar, said, “During interrogation, Police came to know that he was in touch with the Politburo members of CPI(M) to revive the Maoist movement in Uttarakhand.”
“After trying to disrupt the previous assembly elections, he had plans to do the same in the upcoming assembly polls in 2022 with unlawful activities under Maoist movement. But, before he could succeed, he was nabbed by the police which was planning the dragnet on him for the last few days after getting input about his presence in Almora,” said Kumar.
The state top cop also claimed that Pandey had “taken arms training in the jungles of north Bihar in 2012.”
“He was the right hand of senior Maoist leader Khin Singh Bora who was the Uttarakhand area commander for CPI(M) who is presently in jail after being arrested in Uttar Pradesh police STF. After his arrest, Pandey was in hiding and visited the state occasionally but was not completely off,” said Kumar, adding that he was also active during the recent farmers’ agitation.
“However, he was not found trying to influence the farmers in the Maoist movement,” he added.
Kumar also informed that Pandey had joined the banned Maoist organisation in 2006 and was active in the state along with two of his close aides Devendra Chamyal and Bhagwati Bhoj who were already arrested a few years ago from Haldwani.
“The names of the Maoist leaders in Uttarakhand had come into light after police busted an arms training camp by the Maoist Communist Centre of India in 2004. Since then, 24 Maoist leaders from the state have been arrested including three in jail, one in police custody, four out on bail, 11 acquitted and four dead. Three of the state Maoist leaders were also arrested in other states including two in Maharashtra and one in UP,” said Kumar.
After his arrest, the police recovered two pen drives, two voter IDs, a mobile phone, an Aadhaar card, two books and ₹32,265.
