Maoist leader Deepak, who was arrested by the Special Task Force from a forest near Anaikatti in Coimbatore on November 9, was part of a group of insurgents who ambushed and killed 76 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) men near Chintalnar village of Dantewada district on April 6, 2010. This was confirmed by a police team from Chhattisgarh which visited the prisoner being held at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) late on Sunday.
It is also learnt that the Sukma district police were planning to seek a prisoner transit warrant to take Deepak to Chhattisgarh for investigation into the Dantewada ambush and his suspected roles in other cases.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Manoj Kumar, inspector Sanjay Singh and assistant sub-inspector Maheswaran visited Deepak at the CMCH. Deepak is currently undergoing treatment for injuries he had suffered in the forest when the STF men arrested him .
Deepak is believed to be a central committee member of the People's Liberation of Guerrilla Army, a military component of the CPI (Maoist), and a member of Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee.
The STF team had seized four detonators, 125 g of an explosive mixture, and batteries from Deepak, apart from a single-barrel breech-loading gun, 16 live cartridges and CPI (Maoist) literature.
A weapons trainer and an expert in making improvised explosive devices, Deepak reportedly escaped from gun battle by the Thunderbolt special force of Kerala police at Agali forest in Palakkad district on October 28 and 29 in which four Maoists were killed.
The Principal District and Sessions Court, Coimbatore, is scheduled to hear a petition filed by the Tamil Nadu police seeking Deepak's custody for further investigation on Monday.
