Tamil Nadu cops nail woman Naxal

Express News Service

Chennai, December 7: The "Q" Branch of the Tamil Nadu Police on Thursday arrested a woman Maoist leader who had taken refuge in Minjur in suburban Chennai and was wanted by the Andhra Pradesh Police in several cases. Madhavi (28) had arrived in Minjur about 40 days back and was living with another Naxalite leader, N Panduranga Reddy.

The two lived as a married couple, posing as traders dealing in firewood, and were missing for a long period of time, Q Branch sources said. Their frequent absence from their rented house led to suspicion and a police team arrested Madhavi from the house on Thursday at around 6 pm. According to the sources, Madhavi and Reddy, got married about eight months back before settling in Minjur.

Police said Reddy, a top-rung Maoist leader, wanted in such cases as an assassination bid on former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu about four years ago and the recent attack on former CM N Janardhan Reddy in Nellore, was picked up by the Andhra Police on Wednesday in Prakasam district.

There were rumours on Thursday that Reddy had been arrested in Tamil Nadu. However, the state police, including Tamil Nadu DGP P Rajendran, denied this. On Friday, Q Branch officials said he had been arrested in Andhra.

Madhavi, hailing from Hyderabad, is said to have at least six cases against her, including her involvement in the Nallagunta attack on a group of policemen and Anakapalli culvert attack, targeting senior officials, both in Andhra Pradesh. According to police, she led many of these attacks, targeting politicians and policemen. When questioned by the Tamil Nadu Police, she said she had come to Minjur to recuperate after an illness.

The Tamil Nadu Police have registered a case against Madhavi under the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act as she belonged to a banned organisation. Several cases have been registered against her in Andhra Pradesh, including under the AP Public Security Act, Explosive Substances Act and attempt to murder.