Bhubaneswar, Nov. 5: A judge in Koraput, around 500km from here, today received a parcel containing a threat letter, two used bullets and a detonator that sent the police in the southern Odisha town into a tizzy.

The letter bore the name of CPI(Maoist), the rebel outfit banned by the state government in 2006. Koraput is a known Maoist bastion, which has witnessed rebel attacks in the past.

Police said the parcel, which arrived through Speed Post from nearby Rayagada, was received at the office of civil judge (senior division), Debasis Panda. While the bullets it contained had been used, the detonator was obsolete. The parcel had the name of one Kameswar Rao as its sender.

Koraput superintendent of police Avinash Kumar said the matter was being investigated. Sources said though the parcel could perhaps be a prank, the police were taking it seriously. “We are seized with the matter, but no arrests have been made so far,” said inspector in charge of the Koraput police station S.C. Raiguru.

The incident comes in the wake of arrest of a dreaded Maoist leader wanted in 12 murder cases from Narayanpatna area of the district on Sunday.

The police said that Jhadu Tadingi, leader of Narayanpatna Area Committee of Srikakulam Koraput Divisional Committee (SKDC) of CPI(Maoist), was nabbed from a forest near Dumsil village in the Narayanpatna area following a well-planned operation.

Jhadu, who started as a member of the Maoist backed Chasi Muliya Adivasi Sangh (CMAS), was inducted into the armed squad of the rebels in 2009 after arms training. Between 2009 and 2013, he was involved in the murder of at least 12 people in Narayanpatna and Bandhugaon blocks of Koraput district.

The police said in 2009 Jhadu murdered two persons, while in 2010 he killed four villagers.

He killed another six persons in the next three years after branding them police informers. Besides, he had also provided logistics support for landmine attack at Jogi Palur in Narayanpatna in 2009.

He was also involved in many other offences, including attack on Narayanpatna police station in 2009 and exploding a culvert at Anchalpur in Narayanpatna in 2010. Sources said that during the operation in which Jhadu was nabbed the BSF personnel also recovered a country-made gun, medicines and Maoist literature from a rebel hideout in a forest near Rangamguda within Narayanpatna police limits.

On the other hand, three women Maoists surrendered before Anandpur police in Keonjhar district today.