Gujarat police nab wanted ‘naxal’ leader

Nagpur: In a swift operation, a Gujarat police team nabbed an alleged naxal leader Tusharkranti Bhattacharya, who was wanted in a 2011 case registered in Surat. He was reportedly arriving at the Nagpur station on Tuesday morning. The officials quickly arrested him as he got down from the train and took him to Surat via Ahmedabad.  

His wife, Shoma Sen, an alleged naxal sympathiser is the head of English department at the Nagpur University.

According to the police sources, Bhattacharya had absconded to West Bengal in order to avoid being arrested.

However, his wife claimed a press meet on Tuesday that he had gone to Kolkata to visit his sister.

The couple has been allegedly involved in Naxalite activities from their city residence and had been kept under police surveillance for several years now.

The Gujarat police was tracking the accused for his alleged connection with the naxalite activities in the tribal areas of the Dangs, Surat and Navsari district. When the Gitanjali Express reached the Nagpur Railway station on Tuesday morning, the police officials were already waiting at the station. They arrested the accused and took him to the Nagpur airport. From there, he was taken to Surat, where he is to be presented before the court on Wednesday.

Earlier, the accused has also been arrested from Patna in 2007 by a team of Special Task Force with a large number of arms and ammunitions.