Ranchi: Banned CPI (Maoist) politburo member Misir Besra, who was carrying a bounty of over Rs 1 crore on his head and wanted in 141 cases, was arrested from Jharkhand’s Dhanbad district, police said.
The sixty-five-year-old red rebel, a resident of Madnadih in Giridih district, was apprehended from Maniadih area under the Barwadda Police Station limits on Tuesday evening, a senior officer said.
Besides Besra, two other Maoists, including one carrying a Rs 15 lakh reward on his head, were arrested during the operation, he said.
“Besra alias Sagar Da alias Bhaskar Da was wanted in 141 cases related to Maoist activities in several states including Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal. He was carrying a bounty of over Rs 1 crore on his head,” the officer said.
Besra, the CPI (Maoist) central committee member, was influenced by Maoist leaders Prashant Da and Kishan Da during his school days and had started attending meetings of the banned organisation, according to the Jharkhand Police records.
He took primary membership of the proscribed organisation in 1980.
“In 1990, Kishan Da assigned him tasks related to press work and operations in Kolkata, and Besra held a sub-zonal level position,” another officer said.
Upon returning from Kolkata in 1992, he worked alongside a Santhali individual named Rajesh to expand the banned organisation’s network in Ranchi and its neighbouring districts, he said, citing the Jharkhand Police records.
Besra formed the south Chotanagpur committee of the outlawed group in 1997, and assisted Kishan Da in establishing the Jharkhand regional committee in 2000.
In the same year, he formed the first armed squad in the Bundu area of Ranchi district under the leadership of a cadre named Milan.
In 2003, he was appointed as a member of the central committee of the banned outfit.
Besra has a daughter, who works in Delhi and an 18-year-old son.
On Tuesday, 16 Maoists, with six of them carrying a combined bounty of Rs 39 lakh, surrendered before the Jharkhand Police.
Santosh Mahto alias Basudev Da alias Dilip, who was wanted in 128 cases and carrying a Rs 15 lakh reward on his head, was among those who surrendered, another officer said.
Two sub-zonal committee members and two area committee functionaries were among those who surrendered, he said.
