Maoist Central Committee Member with ₹25 Lakh Reward Arrested in Cyberabad

HYDERABAD: Police said they had arrested Sanjoy Deepak Rao, the Maoists’ central committee member, who carries a Rs 25 lakh reward for his capture. Rao is a native of Shivagandhanagar, Ambernath East, in the Thane district of Maharashtra.

Rao was also the western ghat, special zonal committee secretary and south regional bureau in-charge. The reward for his capture was offered by the Maharashtra police.

Announcing the arrest, Director General of Police Anjani Kumar said that on a tip-off, the Cyberabad police along with the Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) arrested Rao near the Malaysian Township, Kukatpally. Police had been tracking Rao for some time, the DGP said.

Rao was doing his BTech in electrical engineering at the Regional Engineering College (REC; now NIT), Jammu and Kashmir when he began supporting the separatist movement in Kashmir. He gradually shifted to the left-wing extremist groups.

The DGP said there was no Maoist activity in Telangana and no one was interested in joining them.

The DGP said Rao had recovered from ill health and was on his way to Chhattisgarh and had stopped to meet his friends. The DGP identified Rao’s friends as Baswaraj, the general secretary, Maoists, Ganapathi, CCM. Ranjith Shankaran, professor at Mahindra Tech University, and B. Ajith Kumar, film editor from Madhapur.