Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda had reached Berhampur to recruit cadres for his newly formed outfit CPI (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist), where he was nabbed by police at 1 am on Friday.
Addressing a press conference here, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of police (southern range) Amitabh Thakur said as per initial findings Sabyasachi had reached Berhampur around ten to 12 days back. “As his support base had declined drastically since past two years and he had formed the new outfit this year, he was camping in the city to woo youngsters into his organisation,” he said.
On Thursday night, the police on a tip-off about Panda’s presence in a house in the Badabazar area, identified three houses where they believed he could be hiding. Led by Berhampur police chief Annirudha Singh, three police teams surrounded the suspected three houses.
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But the information was not absolutely accurate. The police parties realised Panda had been hiding in a house, two houses away from one of the marked houses, said Mr. Singh. The police teams then surrounded the house and entered it through the terrace. By that time, Panda had sensed their presence and had jumped into an adjacent house. But his moving shadow was spotted by the police personnel who finally arrested him.
Panda, according to police, did not resist arrest even as he was carrying a revolver. Pointing to the recovery of gold and cash from his hideout, the DIG said Mr. Panda may have been continuing with the practice of extortion.
Panda was later produced in front of the Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) of Berhampur amidst tight security on Friday evening where he was ordered to be sent on 10-day police remand.
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