Nuapada: Police arrested a key associate of the Maoists from Khadupani village in Boden police station area on Tuesday.

The accused has been identified as Yusuf Mohammed (50), the president of the Chashi Mulia Adivasi Sangha of Nuapada, a frontal organization of the CPI(Maoist). He was booked under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Yusuf was remanded in judicial custody after a court rejected his bail plea on Wednesday.

Nuapada police superintendent Smit P. Parmar claimed that Yusuf was a part of an active Naxal militia, assisting the Maoists in social, economic and political fronts in Ghatmal, Boirgaon and Bhainsadani gram panchayats of Nuapada district.

"He used to arrange meetings of the Maoists in the villages of these panchayats. He also helped them with food and other logistics," Parmar said.

Parmar alleged that Yusuf used to help the Maoists by informing them about the movement of the security forces. "He used to inform the rebels about the movement of the police. He also helped them by telling about the details of the contractors and the various ongoing projects in the area," he said.

The police officer said that Yusuf was instrumental in ensuring the safety of the Maoists. "He flooded the Maoists with information about movement of the police and advised them with safety measures they ought to take. On occasions, he even escorted the rebels to safe shelters," Parmar said.