Top Maoist leader Misir Besra arrested in Jharkhand with Rs 2.2 crore bounty
Jharkhand Police arrested CPI (Maoist) politburo member Misir Besra, carrying a bounty of Rs 2.2 crore and wanted in 175 cases. The arrest was made during an anti-Naxal operation in Dhanbad, with police calling it a major breakthrough
Ranchi: In a breakthrough in anti-Naxal operations, banned CPI (Maoist) politburo member Misir Besra, who was carrying a bounty of over Rs 2.2 crore on his head and was wanted in 175 cases, was arrested from Jharkhand’s Dhanbad district, DGP Tadasha Mishra said on Wednesday.
The director general of police claimed that the Maoist menace has been “almost wiped out” from the state with the arrest of the country’s most wanted Naxal leaders.
Besra, 65, was apprehended from the Maniadih area under the Barwadda Police Station limits on Tuesday evening during Operation Daura Pahad, she said.
A resident of Madnadih village in Giridih district, Besra was the “only active top-ranking CPI (Maoist) politburo member”, the DGP said.
“The top Maoist carried a combined bounty of Rs 2.20 crore, announced by the Jharkhand and Odisha governments. He was wanted in 175 cases across Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal,” the officer said.
Two other Maoists – Mehnat alias Mochu, who was carrying a reward of Rs 15 lakh, and Gaurav – were also arrested during the operation, she said.
According to the DGP, the three were wanted in 320 criminal cases in total.
The police said Besra, also known as Sagar Da and Bhaskar Da, joined the banned outfit in 1980 and rose through its ranks to become a member of its central committee in 2003.
He played a key role in expanding the Maoist network in Jharkhand and neighbouring states, another officer said.
Besra was instrumental in forming armed squads in the state, he said.
Jharkhand Police Inspector General (Operations) Narendra Singh said the three arrested Maoists were involved in several major attacks over the years, including the 2005 Jehanabad jailbreak in Bihar, multiple bank robberies, large-scale looting of arms and ammunition, and several IED blasts.
“They were responsible for the deaths of more than 100 security personnel,” he said.
According to the police, the three red rebels had been attempting to revive Maoist activities in the Parasnath region.
“Security forces will sanitise the entire area and launch intensive operations to trace the remaining 15-20 Maoists, believed to be active in Jharkhand, including three carrying cash rewards,” Singh said.
Reacting to Misir Besra’s arrest, his brother Devlal Besra said the family came to know that he had been apprehended between 10 pm and 11 pm on Tuesday in the border area between Dhanbad and Giridih.
“He has not come home since 1986-87. We have a nephew. We also had a niece, but she passed away. We had repeatedly appealed to him to return to the mainstream,” Devlal Besra said.
The arrests came hours after 16 Maoists, including six carrying a combined bounty of Rs 39 lakh, surrendered before the Jharkhand Police.
Santosh Mahto alias Basudev Da alias Dilip, who was wanted in 128 cases and carrying a reward of Rs 15 lakh, was among those who surrendered.
