Kolkata, September 17 (H.S.): In a major breakthrough for security agencies, the Special Task Force (STF) of the Kolkata Police has arrested top Maoist leader Asim Mandal, alias Akash, from the Lalat area in Patashpur, Purba Medinipur district. Mandal, who serves as a Central Committee member of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and the secretary of the West Bengal State Committee-1, had been successfully evading law enforcement agencies across interstate forest regions for over 15 years.

Commending the police for this significant operational success, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari highly praised the STF officers and personnel. In a statement on Thursday, the Chief Minister noted that the apprehension, executed on the basis of precise technical intelligence, demonstrates the exceptional operational competence of the state's police force. Using the occasion to issue a stern warning, he categorically stated that the West Bengal government will not tolerate any attempt to revive or expand the network of ‘Red Terror’ within the state's borders.

The Chief Minister further emphasized that no extremist ideology will be permitted to jeopardize the safety, security, and development of the people. He assured the public that the government would ensure the strictest enforcement of the law and take stringent legal action to completely neutralize any such audacious attempts by extremist groups.

According to security agencies, Mandal was one of the most wanted Maoist operatives in the region, carrying a massive combined bounty of Rs 2.20 crore on his head, which included Rs 1 crore announced by the Jharkhand government and Rs 1.20 crore by the Odisha government. He was actively wanted in over 55 serious criminal cases spread across Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal. Operating extensively in the Saranda and Kolhan forest regions over the past several years, Mandal was wanted for orchestrating multiple deadly attacks on security forces, including CoBRA battalions and the Jharkhand Jaguar force, utilizing IED blasts and deadly ambushes.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh