Assam police arrest 'senior CPI(M) leader and idealogue' in Cachar district

Assam police on Monday claimed that they arrested a 72-year-old man, identified as Arun Kumar Bhattacharjee alias Kanchan da, who is a senior CPI (Maoist) leader and a central committe member of the banned organisation.

Guwahati Police Commissioner, Harmeet Singh told reporters in Guwahati that Bhattacharjee was arrested on Sunday in South Assam's Cachar district, where he was hiding in a house inside Patimara tea estate. Police launched an operation based on inputs provided by central agencies, he said.

"He is an idealogue, a strategist of the CPI (Maoist) and was tasked to set up a base of the banned organisation in Assam and rest of Northeast," Singh claimed.

Singh claimed that the CPI (Maoist) has been making attempts to spread the root of their organization in Assam and rest of the Northeast.

"There has been a lot of fund flows from the Eastern Regional Bureau to further the activities in Assam. Bhattacharjee was an ex-MCC Special Committee Member till 2004 and after that Central Committee Member of CPI (Maoist) till date," Singh said.

Police recovered cash of Rs. 3.6 lakh and a laptop from his possession. Bhattacharjee is a resident of Howrah in West Bengal, he said.

Police arrested another person, Akash Urang alias Rahul, who they claimed was a member of Assam state organising committee of CPI (Maoist) and a close aide of Kanchan da.

Police claimed that CPI (Maoist) was trying to create a red corridor in the Northeastern states to wage war in a coordinated way with other organization with similar ideology.

"They want to set up core committee in Assam to facilitate the command and control of the organisation, to arrange weapons for terror financing by way of extortion to intensify the illegal activities, to increase the membership and impart training to the comrades for arms struggle, to set up camps at various locations to coordinate with other similar organizations for unified action against the security forces as a part of larger conspiracy to commit terrorist strikes as being done in other parts of the country," said a statement issued by Assam police.

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