Ranchi: In a major success for the security forces, Ravindra Ganjhu, a regional commander of the banned CPI-Maoist carrying a reward of Rs 20 lakh, was arrested by police and the CRPF in Jharkhand’s Latehar on Monday, police officials said.
According to the police, Ganjhu was apprehended near his native village, Hesla, in the Chandwa police station area of Latehar. A reward of Rs 15 lakh had been announced for him by the Jharkhand Police, while the NIA had put an additional bounty of Rs 5 lakh on him.
He was also known by the aliases Mukesh Ganjhu and Surendra Ganjhu.
Police records show that he is accused in around 55 cases registered across various police stations in Jharkhand, including murder, Maoist violence, extortion, bomb attacks and offences related to illegal arms.
Investigators consider him the key conspirator behind the Maoist attack on a police patrol vehicle near Lukuiya Mor in Chandwa on November 22, 2019, in which four police personnel were killed.
According to probe agencies, the attack took place on the day Union Home Minister Amit Shah was visiting Jharkhand. Police allege that Ganjhu planned the operation and paid reconnaissance members involved in facilitating the assault.
He has also been wanted in several cases being investigated by the NIA. These include cases linked to CPI-Maoist Central Committee member Sudhakaran, who carried a reward running into crores of rupees, the Chandwa police attack case, and the recovery of weapons during “Operation Double Bull” conducted in the Bulbul forest along the Latehar-Lohardaga border in 2022. The NIA is probing these cases.
During the investigation, the NIA had already sealed Ganjhu’s residence at Banjhitola in Hesla village under Chandwa police station limits. The agency alleged that the property had been built using proceeds generated from extortion and illegal levies collected by the Maoist network.
The arrested Maoist leader is currently being interrogated. Security agencies believe that the questioning will yield crucial information on the Maoist organisation’s network, arms caches, funding channels and the activities of other active cadres.
Officials have described the arrest as a significant success in the campaign against Maoist insurgency in Jharkhand.
(IANS)
