Woman commander of Naxal unit nabbed

NAGPUR: Ten days after losing four of its men in a Maoist attack, the Gadchiroli police on Saturday nabbed the 34-year-old woman commander of a Naxalite unit in a joint operation with the special action group (SAG).

The police believe that Saroja, aka Ammakka Jakka Atram, was involved in the October 26 ambush on a patrol party that killed four and injured ten. The swift joint operation was the result of a tip-off two days ago that Saroja would be crossing over to Andhra Pradesh.“It is an important breakthrough,”Rajesh Pradhan, SP, Gadchiroli, told DNA.

For one, the successful operation comes just days after the attack. Two, Saroja is a veteran Naxalite with 17 years experience and has been active in the troubled Abhujmadh and Bastar areas of Chhattisgarh. She is the commander of the Jimalgatta Dalam and can provide crucial information to the police about the latest Naxal strategies in Chhattisgarh, particularly in Abhujmarh, a ‘liberated zone’ with a Naxal ‘jantana sarkar’ in place.