Woman Maoist operative in Delhi

New Delhi: A 23-year-old woman Naxal operative from Jharkhand, who had been living in the national capital and working as a domestic helper under a false identity, was arrested from Pitampura area of outer Delhi, police said here on Wednesday.

Originally from Kudaburu village in West Singhbhum in the eastern state, she was wanted in connection with multiple police encounters and was booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Arms Act, Explosives Act, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, according to Delhi Police.

On March 26, 2023, a non-bailable warrant was issued against her by a court in Jharkhand. The alleged Naxalite arrived in Delhi in 2020 and after assuming a false identity took up work as a domestic helper in Noida and various parts of Delhi, eventually settling in Pitampura. "Based on months of surveillance and intelligence gathering, the crime branch received credible information about the presence of a Maoist extremist in the National Capital Region (NCR)," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Vikram Singh said. The officer further said that on March 4, the team carried out a raid in Maharana Pratap Enclave, Pitampura, resulting in the arrest of the Naxalite.

The accused was born into a farming family and was recruited into the CPI Maoist faction at the age of 10. "She received intensive training for five years at a camp led by a commander named Ramesh in Jharkhand's Kolhan forest. The training covered handling sophisticated weapons such as INSAS rifles, SLRs, LMGs, hand grenades and .303 rifles," DCP told PTI. Between 2018 and 2020, she actively participated in three encounters with the Jharkhand Police -- first in Kolhan (2018), then in Porahat (2019), and later in Sonua (2020).