Maoist commander injured in Jharkhand encounter arrested from Varanasi hospital

Ranchi, May 21 Maoist commander Gautam Yadav, who was injured in a recent police encounter in Jharkhand and had been on the run since then, was arrested from a hospital in Varanasi, officials said on Wednesday.

According to Palamu Superintendent of Police Rishma Rameshan, Gautam Yadav had checked into the hospital under a false identity, registering himself as Mithilesh Yadav to avoid detection.

He was undergoing treatment for a gunshot wound to the abdomen sustained during an encounter with security forces in Palamu district on May 15.

Yadav, a zonal commander of the banned Maoist outfit Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TSPC), was injured during a fierce gun battle between TSPC cadres and police in the forests of Baskatiya under the Manatu police station limits.

Multiple rounds were exchanged in the encounter, following which Yadav fled in an injured condition, reportedly aided by a relative.

The Maoists had gathered in the area to plan a major operation, according to police.

Following the encounter, a search operation led to the recovery of AK-47 cartridges and other incriminating material from the site.

An FIR was later lodged against 13 Maoists, including commanders Yadav and Shashikant Ganjhu. Ganjhu carries a Rs 10 lakh bounty on his head.

Police sources said it was Ganjhu who arranged for Yadav’s treatment in Varanasi.

Acting on intelligence inputs, Palamu SP Rameshan constituted a special investigation team led by ASP Rakesh Singh and it raided the Varanasi hospital and took Yadav into custody.

Yadav will be produced in a Varanasi court and brought to Palamu once his medical condition stabilises.

The development came on a day when security forces killed 27 Maoists in the Abujhmad forest of Chhattisgarh. Union Home Minister Amit Shah lauded the operation, calling it a "landmark achievement in the battle to eliminate Naxalism (Maoism)".

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