Representative image for an arrest.
Credit: iStock Photo
Mumbai: In a major swoop, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra police has arrested Prashant Jalinder Kamble alias 'Laptop', who has been wanted for over 15 years, for alleged links with Naxalites.
Kamble, originally a resident of Tadiwala Road area of Pune was arrested from the Khopoli area of Raigad district after an intelligence-based operation.
Kamble (44) was widely known as 'Laptop' by the Naxalite cadres for his skills to repair computers and laptops.
The ATS unit of Thane has registered a case against him in 2011 under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for links with CPI (Maoist) leaders and cadres.
Kamble allegedly came into contact with the Kabir Kala Manch, a Pune-based cultural group and then came close to the Naxalite leaders.
According to investigations, Kamble has worked with Milind Teltumbde, the Central Committee Member (CCM) of CPI (Maoist) and the in-charge of MMC Zone, which covers as vast expanse of Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh in central India, who was shot dead in an encounter in November 2021.
Teltumbde, who was wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Elgar Parishad-Koregaon Bhima case, carried a reward of over Rs 50 lakh on his head.
Kamble worked with Teltumbde and his wife Angella Sontakke.
In fact, Kamble had left his Pune home in 2010 and has been absconding since then.
His family had registered an FIR at the Bundgarden police station. However, he could not be traced.
Kamble, along with another Pune resident named Santosh Shelar, who too vanished, joined the CPI (Maoist). However, Shelar was arrested in Pune by the ATS in January 2024 after he returned to his hometown following health issues.
Kamble was subsequently produced before a Thane court, which remanded him in the custody of the ATS until May 13.
Kamble’s arrest could throw more light on Naxalite activities of the past decade and whether he had any role in the Koregaon-Bhima case.