In a prize catch, the West Bengal police on Tuesday night arrested top Maoist leader Venkateswar Reddy, the suspected mastermind of the attack that killed 24 Eastern Frontier Rifles personnel in Silda in West Midnapore district. Additional Director General of Police of the Criminal Investigation Department Raj Kanojia said Reddy, alias Telugu Dipak, was arrested from Sarshuna on the southern fringes of the city.
Referring to the arrest of military operations leader Venkatshewar Reddy alias Telugu Dipak on March two from Howrah, Maoist leader Kishenji said: "The arrest will strengthen our resolve to fight state sponsored terrorism. We will make our movement in the country stronger and sharper."
Top Maoist leader Vekanteshwar Reddy alias Telugu Dipak, a close aide of Kishenji who was arrested in Kolkata on Tuesday, had focused on Nandigram, where a land war had been fought in 2007, besides adjoining Khejuri and Kolkata, a senior police official said.
Maharashtra Police had on August 28 raided the homes of the prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least five of them for their alleged Maoist links, sparking a chorus of outrage from human rights defenders.
The bench, which also comprised Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, told the Maharashtra government to make its police officials "more responsible" on matters pending before the court.
The court was hearing the plea filed against the arrest of the rights activists -- Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha -- in the case.
The larger conspiracy of Communist Party of India-Maoists was to overthrow the democratic system in the country, and the accused were working in that direction, the chargesheet claimed.
Fadnavis said the decision of the top court proved that there was no conspiracy behind action by the state police against Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha.
The apex court also rejected the plea to appoint a Special Investigation Team for probe.
"Every criminal investigation is based on allegations and we have to see whether there is some material," the court said.
The apex court questioning the police about the arrests said that 'dissent is the safety valve of democracy and if you don't allow these safety valves, it will burst.'
With her various overtures and right noises at the right time, Mamata is once again trying to reshape her image from being a regional leader to one with national appeal and acceptability. After all, the charge of building a Federal Front may also bring to the fore Mamata's chances to become prime minister in 2019.
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