JOIN USA team from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is expected to visit Odisha’s Maoist-infested Malkangiri district shortly to interrogate two arrested red rebels in connection with the last month’s sensational naxal attack in neighbouring Chhattisgarh.
The two Maoists - Kasa Kurujami and Udru Madhi - were nabbed by the anti-naxal cell of the Malkangiri district police during a combing operation last Monday. After their arrest, both admitted before the police that they along with a few other naxal cadres from the state had taken part in the attack on Congress convoy in Chhattisgarh.
During interrogation, the Maoists admitted that the plan for the May 25 attacks on the Congress convoy, that wiped out the party’s leadership in Chhattisgarh, had been prepared much in advance.
Nearly 200 Maoists cadres from three naxal-infested states - Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh - were selected for the special operation. They were given training for three days by senior Maoists leaders at a camp in Kikripalli village under Sukma district.
After successfully executing the special operation, the Maoists split themselves into four groups and headed in different directions. About 35 Maoist cadres from Odisha had taken part in the Chhattisgarh operation. “We contacted NIA investigators and conveyed the information after the two Maoists made the revelation (about their participation in the Chhattisgarh attack). A NIA team is likely to arrive here shortly to question both red rebels”, said a senior police official stationed in Malkangiri district.
About 30 people, including senior Chhattisgarh Congress state unit president Nand Kumar Patel, Mahendra Karma and former union minister V C Shukla, were killed.