An elderly Maoist couple was arrested by a special police team of the Ramagundam Police Commissionerate from Indaram village in Jaipur mandal of Mancherial district on Saturday.
Police identified the couple as Donga Gangadhara Rao alias Vengo Dada, 80, a central committee member in the CPI (Maoist) technical department, and his wife Bhavani, 60, divisional committee member of the outfit’s Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC).
Mr. Rao hails from Narendrapuram in Andhra Pradesh’s B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema district and Bhavani belongs to Indaram village of Mancherial district.
Police said that Mr. Rao had studied polytechnic in Visakhapatnam in 1969 and moved to Hyderabad for a livelihood. He had worked at a private company in the city during which he got attracted to Naxal ideology and subsequently joined the then PWG outfit in 1980. He had gone underground in 2000.
The CPI (Maoist) central committee entrusted him with the responsibility of the technical department involved in the task of manufacturing weapons and explosives, police added.
The couple had been staying in Indaram under “false identity” for the last 10 months. They allegedly purchased land and constructed a small house in the village allegedly using fake Aadhaar and PAN cards.
The couple had been tasked to strengthen the Maoist urban network, motivate youth to join the outfit and carry out disruptive activities at the behest of some senior Maoist leaders.
Producing the arrested Maoist couple at a press conference in Ramagundam on Saturday, Commissioner Rema Rajeshwari said that a case has been registered under Section 120 (B) r/w 34 IPC and Sections 10, 13, 18, 18 (b) of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967. Further investigation is under way.
Two fake Aadhaar and PAN cards, ₹1,57,900 cash, two mobile phones, electronic gadgets, copies of CPI (Maoist) Telangana State second plenary resolutions and other documents were recovered from them.
Efforts are on to nab a Maoist sympathiser of Kumram Bheem Asifabad district for aiding the Maoist couple.
