Six picked up from Kondhwa for suspected Naxal links?

Six people were picked up from Kondhwa for alleged Maoist links yesterday. The action was taken by the Pune Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Crime Branch. Officers attached to the Crime Branch said the interrogation of some people from Kondhwa was on in connection with their suspected Naxal links, but refused to divulge any more information.

An officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the police were yet to come to a conclusion on the matter of Naxal links. Sources said in May this year the state ATS had arrested 10 people for alleged Maoist links from the Pune railway station complex while they were allegedly trying to escape on the Azad Hind Express.

All 10 belonged to a village in West Midnapore. The men were affiliated to Sidhu Kanu Dalam. Some of them ufffd sources said one such person was named Rabi Hansda (19)u00a0-- also allegedly acted as couriers for groups such as the People's Guerilla Liberation Army (PGLA). Among the arrested people was a man called Sushanto Mahato (36), who was involved in an explosion in West Bengal, said the police.

According to the police, Mahato had fled to the city and made it his working base.In the last week of April, the ATS Pune arrested Anjela Sontakke, a member of the CPI-Maoist Golden Corridor Committee and wife of Milind Teltumde, secretary of the CPI-Maoist Maharashtra Control Committee.

In all, three women and a man were held from Pirangut in the city, Thane and Nashik. Earlier, in April, the ATS had arrested Mayuri Bhagat alias Jeni (23), Jyoti Chorge (19), Anuradha Sonule (23) and Siddhart Bhosle (24) for having Naxal links. The police had recovered cash, Naxal literature, phones, PAN cards and several SIM cards from the suspects.