‘Lack of work’ due to near complete control of left wing extremism (LWE) in Telangana drove slain gangster Nayeemuddin alias Nayeem to Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra looking for new avenues.
This is what the police probing the cases involving Nayeem feel, having stumbled upon evidence that they killed three people in Chhattisgarh. The three victims were Maoist sympathisers or informants, the Telangana police believe.
“For the past few years, there has been little Maoist activity in Telangana. When the LWE movement was at its peak, Nayeem was in high demand with police approaching him for info on Maoists and their informants,” a police officer said. All that had changed as top Maoist leaders were caught or neutralised while the cadre surrendered.
But simultaneously the Maoists were rising in the neighbouring States of Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra. “Nayeem found an opportunity in this and slowly started gathering info about Maoists in these States as well,” a police officer unwilling to be identified said.
The gangster roped in surrendered Maoist Kumaraswamy –also known as Tech Madhu- and others for his operations in Chhattisgarh. An expert in making weapons, Tech Madhu was staying at Ramnagar and operating a shop after his surrender several years ago.
Nayeem reportedly paid him monthly amounts ranging from Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 80,000 for working for him. The gang identified Maoist sympathisers and killed them in Chhattisgarh. One or two of these killings were registered as cases of suspicious deaths in Chhattisgarh and were closed for want of evidence.
Soon after Nayeem’s killing, the police in Chhattisgarh seized vehicles of his gang. The gangster had purchased properties in Raipur and Jagdalpur of Chhattisgarh and other places in Odisha and Maharashtra. Telangana police are yet to search these buildings.
“Since the murders were committed in another State, investigation responsibility lies with the local police there. We’ll ascertain if proceeds of crimes committed in Telangana were used to purchase those assets,” the investigators said.
