Sabyasachi Panda’s crime list, among others, inclu-des the R. Udayagiri jailbreak and attack on R. Udayagiri pol-ice station in 2006
In major breakthrough, the Orissa police has arrested state’s top Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda alias Sunil from Bada Bazar area in Berhampur city, nearly 180 km from here, state director general of police Sanjeev Marik said on Friday.
The rebel leader, allegedly involved in the killings of 25 security personnel and 34 civilians, was held at around 1 am on Thursday night from a “rented” house by special squad of police.
A revolver, several rounds of live cartridges, nearly 500 grams of gold ornaments, two computer hard disks and Rs 2 lakh cash were seized from the Sabyasachi.
Sabyasachi’s crime list, among others, includes the R. Udayagiri jailbreak and attack on R. Udayagiri police station in 2006, attack on Nayagarh police training centre and armoury, the brutal murder of Hindu seer Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in 2008 and the abduction of two Italian tourists in 2012.
“The arrest of Sabyasachi Panda is a great success for the Orissa police. It was an intelligence based operation directly operated by Amitabha Thakur, deputy inspector general of police at Berhampur, and local superintendent of police Anirudh Singh,” the DGP Mr Marik said.
Sources said there was no resistance by the rebel leader. The rebel leader, who joined the Naxal movement in 1995, carried reward of `5 lakh on his head. Strong rumours abo-ut his arrest had been circulating since Friday.