Top Maoist leader Besra, Carrying ₹2.2 crore bounty, held in Jharkhand

New Delhi: Top Maoist politburo member Misir Besra (65), who was carrying a reward of over Rs 2.2 crore on his head and wanted in 175 cases, was arrested from Jharkhand's Dhanbad district, DGP (Jharkhand) Tadasha Mishra said on Wednesday.

The DGP claimed that the Maoist menace has been "almost wiped out" from the state with the arrest of the country's most wanted Maoist leaders. Besra was apprehended from Maniadih area under the Barwadda police station limits on Tuesday evening during Operation Daura Pahad, she said. A resident of Madnadih village in Giridih district, Besra was the "only active top-ranking CPI (Maoist) politburo member", she said.

"He was wanted in 175 cases across Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal," she said. Two other Maoists -- Mehnat alias Mochu, who was carrying a reward of Rs 15 lakh, and Gaurav -- were also arrested during the operation, she said. According to the DGP, the three were wanted in a total of 320 criminal cases. Police said Besra, also known as Sagar Da and Bhaskar Da, joined the banned outfit in 1980 and rose through its ranks to become a member of its central committee in 2003.


Besra played a key role in expanding the Maoist network in Jharkhand and neighbouring states, another officer said. He was instrumental in forming armed squads in the state.

(With agency inputs)