Last active maoist leader Misir Besra arrested in Jharkhand
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Ranchi, July 29: Misir Besra, the last Central Committee (CC) member and Politburo member of the CPI (Maoist), was arrested on Tuesday in the Dhanbad district of Jharkhand, police officials said. Besra, who carried a bounty of over ₹ one crore for information leading to his arrest, was captured in the Tundi-Maniya forest area near the Dhanbad-Giridih border, they added. Gaurav Hasda and his associates were also arrested.
_202607291504216318_H@@IGHT_400_W@@IDTH_600.jpg "Last Active Maoist Leader Misir Besra Arrested in Jharkhand")
Besra's son, cstated that he has not yet received any official information regarding the arrest. Security agencies had repeatedly approached the Maoist leader's family to persuade him to surrender. "Just 15 days ago, the police came and asked me to write another letter requesting him to surrender. I haven't seen him in 20 years, but I am glad that the security forces captured him alive," Siddharth said.
Officials noted that Besra's continuous presence in the Saranda forests of West Singhbhum district was one of the key reasons the district was classified as a "district of concern" regarding Left-Wing Extremism (LWE). As senior Maoist leaders surrendered and encounters took place, several other districts, including Bastar in Chhattisgarh, were removed from the list.
With Besra's arrest, no active members of the executive Central Committee of the banned CPI (Maoist) remain at large, officials said. At its peak, the organization had more than 40 Central Committee members. Over the years, security forces have either arrested, killed, or ensured the capture/neutralization of the remaining 21 active Central Committee members.
Besra was also one of the few senior leaders who consistently refused to surrender. "He was trapped in a forested area at the foot of the Parasnath temple. Besra, after his primary comrades surrendered and heavy troops were deployed, he attempted to flee the forest at around 9 PM," said an official speaking on the condition of anonymity. "After a struggle lasting over two decades, he was captured alive."
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Officials noted that Besra's continuous presence in the Saranda forests of West Singhbhum district was one of the key reasons the district was classified as a "district of concern" regarding Left-Wing Extremism (LWE). As senior Maoist leaders surrendered and encounters took place, several other districts, including Bastar in Chhattisgarh, were removed from the list.