Bhubaneswar, May 10: A woman rebel was sent to jail on Monday for allegedly trying to smuggle cannabis.

Ranjita Badamajhi, a resident of Gajapati district, was arrested on Sunday night from the Ekamra slum near VIP Colony in Nayapalli area of the capital. She was sent to jail yesterday after a local court rejected her bail.

The police confirmed that she had Maoist links though they refused to comment on the speculation that she was the wife of wanted Maoist rebel Azad who called the shots in parts of Kandhmal district.

According to a senior police officer, the police on Sunday got information from the intelligence wing of the state police that a woman with Maoist links had been hiding in the capital. Raids on the Ekamra slum led to her arrest.

“We also seized nearly one kilogram of cannabis from her,” said the police officer. Apart from this, the police seized Rs 15,000 from her.

Police registered a case against the woman under Section 20 (b) of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and produced her in court.

Meanwhile, sources informed that the intelligence wing had interrogated the woman and found that she was the wife of top Maoist leader, Azad. She was active in Mohana and Gajapati areas of the state. However, no police officer was ready to confirm this on record.

“She had come to the capital for medical treatment and was staying in the slum,” informed the sources.

Additional DGP (operations), Sanjeev Marik refused to comment on the arrest. But the slum residents said they had seen her for last few days. They also said the police, on Sunday, had also caught two youths from the house where the woman was straying.

Sources said the police had interrogated the two arrested youths, one of them believed to be the brother of the woman. Maoists have allegedly been protecting and patronising Ganja plantations in southern and western Orissa.