Maoist Sidhu Koda, who was allegedly involved in the killing of former Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi’s son in 2007, has died in police custody in Bihar’s Jamui, the police said on Sunday.
Koda was arrested from Jharkhand’s Dumka district on Saturday evening in a joint operation of the Jharkhand police and Bihar’s special task force (STF), police said.
Carrying rewards of ₹10 lakh in Jharkhand and ₹1 lakh in Bihar, he reportedly died of cardiac arrest during a recovery operation in Jamui, police said.
Dumka’s, superintendent of police (SP), YS Ramesh, said, “We arrested him and handed him over to the Bihar STF. Bihar police could give more details on him. As per the information we received, he died of cardiac arrest during a recovery operation in Jamui.”
“Koda had complained of chest pain. When he was brought to Jamui Sadar Hospital, he was declared dead,” police said.
Zonal commander of the CPI (Maoist), Koda had reportedly come to Dumka for hatching a conspiracy of a Maoist operation, police claimed. On a tip-off, Bihar STF arrived in Dumka and began search operations. The police arrested two more Maoists, Iliyas Hembrom and Sushil Hansda, who reportedly provided information on Koda.
Koda, active as a Maoist cadre since 1998, was wanted in several cases in Bihar and Jharkhand. According to the police, Koda was wanted in more than 10 cases including murder, extortion and loot in Jharkhand’s Giridih district.
{{/usCountry}}Koda, active as a Maoist cadre since 1998, was wanted in several cases in Bihar and Jharkhand. According to the police, Koda was wanted in more than 10 cases including murder, extortion and loot in Jharkhand’s Giridih district.
{{/usCountry}}“Koda was one of the accused in the murder of former chief minister Babulal Marandi’s son,” said additional superintendent of police (operation), Giridih, Deepak Kumar.
In October 2007, armed Maoists had opened fire during a cultural programme and killed 19 people, including Anup Marandi, son of Marandi, at Chilkhari village in Giridih district. Marandi’s brother, Nunulal, was reportedly the target of the rebels. He, however, escaped unhurt.
Koda was also accused in the killing of CRPF’s second-in command Heera Jha during an anti-Maoist operation in Giridih-Jamui border in 2014, Kumar said.