New Delhi: In a possible breakthrough in investigations into the Sildah massacre, the West Bengal police claim they have found the mastermind.
Venkateshwar Reddy alias Telugu Deepak was arrested by the CID from Kolkata following a tip off.
He is said to have planned the attack in Sildha on February 15, which left 24 jawans of the Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) dead. The Maoist leader is believed to be from Andhra Pradesh.
Police say Deepak was in charge of Naxal operations in West Bengal, and that he is close to the the dreaded Naxal leader Koteshwar Rao alias Kishenji.
Earlier, the West Bengal government had admitted that it had been given intelligence warning about the Maoist attack in Sildah.
The state intelligence had sent two specific alerts to the government on November 23, 2009 and February 13, 2010
“Mobile squad of Maoists is planning to attack Sildah camp of the joint forces,” said one alert.
Another intelligence alert warned that Maoists were infiltrating among students in Sildah College. All joint forces camps required to have two local police officers present at all times. However, the local police officers posted in Sildah camp left just 30 minutes before the attack
The interrogation of local police officers has revealed discrepancies in their statements.
Bullets fired by Maoists during the attack were those that are used by the state police, leading officials to suspect that ammunition from the district police armoury reached Maoists.
Comments
0 comment