Bhubaneswar, July 30: The state crime branch today took Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda in nine-day remand following his production in a Nayagarh court.
Director-general of police Sanjeev Marik said the revolver seized from the rebel leader at the time of his arrest had been looted from the Nayagarh armoury in 2008.
Panda was brought from Berhampur to Nayagarh and produced in the court of the sub-divisional judicial magistrate amid tight security. The court, which heard arguments from lawyers on both sides, allowed the crime branch to take the former state organising secretary of the CPI(Maoist) on remand for interrogation.
Sources said the crime branch officials would quiz Panda in connection with a number of cases, including the February 2008 attack on the Nayagarh armoury in which a dozen policemen were killed. The interrogation will focus mainly on his role in planning and executing the Nayagarh attack and whether rebels from other states had also taken part in the operation. Attempt would also be made to find out the present location of the arms looted from the armoury.
Locating the vast cache of arms looted from Nayagarh is considered important as the bulk of it consisted of sophisticated weapons, which would add significantly to the firepower of the Maoists.
Panda, who had been on the run from the police for nearly two decades, is considered to be a prize catch because of his involvement in a number of sensitive cases. He was involved in the kidnapping of two Italian nationals from near Phulbani in 2012 and the killing of VHP leader Laxmananand Saraswati and four of his disciples at Jalaspeta ashram in Kandhamal district. The murder of the Hindu leader had triggered a communal riot in the state leaving nearly 40 persons dead and thousands homeless.
Sources said the crime branch had also requested the Phulbani sub-divisional judicial magistrate’s court to allow it to take Panda on a five-day remand for interrogation in Saraswati case. Along with Panda, two other Maoist leaders Dunna Keshav Rao alias Azad and Pulari Rama Rao alias Uday are also accused in this case. Both Azad and Uday are in jail.
