Woman Maoist leader arrested in Jharkhand

A top woman Maoist leader has been arrested from the Garwah district of Jharkhand, police said Monday.

Acting on a tip off Sunday night, police arrested Vineeta alias Simppi, a zonal commander of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), from Bardari village of Garwah district, about 140 km from Ranchi.

Police said she had masterminded more than a dozen Maoist attacks in Jharkhand. She is accused of attacking a Home Guard training centre in Giridih district in 2006 and looting around 200 police rifles.

'Vineeta had joined the CPI-Maoist group 15 years ago. She was active in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh,' said a police official.

She was lately involved in spreading Maoist propaganda. She used to show villagers CDs with images of police torturing innocent people in the name of anti-Maoist operations.

According to a police official, Vineeta is an expert in handling sophisticated weapons and making landmines.

Maoist rebels are active in 18 of the 24 districts of the state. Nearly 1,000 people have been killed in Maoist related violence in the state in the last seven years.

 

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