BHUBANESWAR: With the Andhra Pradesh Police letting him off, top Maoist leader Dunna Keshava Rao alias Azad was arrested by the Crime Branch (CB) of Orissa which produced him before a court in Nayagarh district on Thursday.The CB has secured Azad’s remand for three days for interrogating him in connection with the sensational murder of Lakshmanananda Saraswati in 2008.On May 4, the agency had submitted chargesheets and on May 18, Azad surrendered before the Andhra police after allegedly giving a slip to the cops here in the City. The Orissa police promptly tried to seek his custody and sent a team, but in vain since the Andhra police did not arrest Azad formally.The rebel, known to be the topmost guerilla leader of CPI (Maoist) in Orissa, later showed up at Nalla Buddulur, his native village in Srikakulam district near Orissa border. He is believed to have been picked up from there though CB claimed he was held from Bhubaneswar. With the process of securing transit remand through courts not possible, the CB had to wait for its opportunity. ‘’We have three days to quiz him on the Saraswati murder case so that we could gather more evidence,’’ Additional Director General of CB Abhay told this paper.Interestingly, Azad after his let-off, admitted before media that he had killed Saraswati on the diktat of the Maoist party. “All that he has so far said is known to us. What we are really looking for is individual culpability in the case and role of others and related evidence,” the CB chief said.Earlier in the day, Azad was produced before the SDJM of Nayagarh in connection with the 2008 attacks on Nayagarh police posts and district armoury in which more than a dozen policemen and civilians were killed in cold blood. He was later taken to an undisclosed location for questioning. Once the Nayagarh court completes trial in the attack case, he will be available for trial before a Baliguda court for Saraswati murder which had triggered a wave of communal violence in the State.
Comments
0 comment