Kishenji's close aide arrested at Ranchi railway station

, May 21: A Moaist leader, Ramdas alias Nandu, known to a be a close aide of slain rebel leader Kishenji, was arrested here on Monday. Local police said they caught Ramdas on a tip off from Ranchi railway station while he was heading towards Lohardaga.

Ramdas, who hails from the Banka district of Bihar, is a member of Bihar-Jharkhand-Odisha-Chhattisgarh regional committee and was a close aide of Kishenji since 2008, police said. Authorities expect that the arrest of Ramdas would help them gather vital information on Maoist activities.

Kishenji was killed in an encounter during joint operations by the CRPF, CoBRA personnel and police in Burisol jungle in West Midnapore district of West Bengal on Nov 24 last year. A woman Maoist leader, Suchitra Mahato, who was with Kishenji then, had escaped only to surrender before West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the state secretariat on Mar 9.

PTI