Wanted since 1996, 42-yr-old was spreading Naxal ideology in Surat, Pune, Mumbai and Thane
Wanted since 1996, 42-yr-old was spreading Naxal ideology in Surat, Pune, Mumbai and Thane
For 15 years she managed to hoodwink the police and went about her operations in the state. Not only did she keep changing her locations frequently, she also went about under several aliases. To some students in Mumbai she was known as Savita, to others she was Kavita, or Sunita. But no one seemed to know the real Anjali Sontakke (42), who was nabbed by the ATS from Thane.
Breakthrough: ATS chief Rakesh Maria said Anjali Sontakke was
looking after the Golden Corridor committee that was started by her in
February 2008, based in Pune. Pic/Bipin Kokate
Anjali had been spreading the Naxal ideology in the urban areas, and her name cropped by during the interrogation of several alleged naxal members arrested from Mumbai, including Arun Ferreira, from Bandra. Sources reveal that Anjali has been taking care of their finances, funding, medical assistance and providing a base to Naxals in Mumbai.u00a0
She has been among the top rungs of the Maoists and was currently the secretary of the central committee for Maharashtra, while her husband Milind Teltumde is the head of the Maharashtra committee of CPIM Maoists.
Rakesh Maria, Maharashtra ATS chief, said, "Now she was on the job of spreading the naxal ideology in the urban areas. She was looking after the Golden Corridor committee that was started by her in February 2008 with a base in Pune. This committee considered of the urban places like Surat, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune and Thane. The job was to spread the ideology here, especially to the students and the labourers."
"There are 20 cases against her, which also includes the ambushing 15 policemen on February 1, 2009 between Gyarapati and Markegaon. She has been staying in Pune since 2008," added Maria. Anti naxal units, the ATS and other police units had been on her trail since 1996, however, she managed to always stay a step ahead of them. On a number of occasions the anti-naxal units from Gadchiroli have searched her hideouts in Mumbai, but returned empty handed.
Education
Anjali is a highly qualified woman and was a teacher at Chandrapur, before shifting base to Mumbai. She has done a BSC in Micrology, MSC in Zoology, B.ed and MA is sociology. Her last degree was from Mumbai University, while she was a front for naxal operations here.
Other arrests
The ATS has also arrested her assistant, who joined her one and half year back. Sushma Remteke (27) alias Shradha Gurav alias Arti. She was arrested from Lavasa road, after Anjali was arrested from Thane on April 25. Police had recovered Rs 3 lakh from Remteke and Rs 1.5 lakh from Anjali. A laptop, number of CDs and a huge amount of naxal literature has been recovered from them.
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