Naxal leader held for making weapon parts at Neral

Police sources said the accused is a member of the naxals’ central technical committee.

An alleged naxal leader Asimkumar Bhattacharya, 63, was arrested for allegedly manufacturing parts of arms from his house at Neral near Matheran on Sunday. Superintendent of Police (Raigad) RD Shinde told HT, “We have registered a case under the arms act,” he added.

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On March 1, Bhattacharya was arrested by the anti-terrorism squad (ATS) from Dombivli for allegedly running a similar operation of manufacturing parts for rocket launchers at his home along with three others. He was later handed over to the Gadchiroli police, who found out about the Neral house during interrogations. The Raigad police, along with their Gadchiroli counterparts, then raided his house at Neral on March 8.

According to senior police officials, Bhattacharya supplied parts to naxals for several years from Neral.

“We want to verify the extent of his activities and if he had any accomplices,” the official said. Bhattacharya was remanded to police custody till March 22 by a local court in Raigad.