After Panda, focus shifts to Naxal leader Nachika Linga

Koraput (Odisha), Jul 20: Following the arrest of Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda, the focus of the security forces seems to have shifted to Nachika Linga, President of Chasi Muliya Adivasi Sangh (CMAS), a naxal-backed tribal outfit in Koraput district of Odisha.

Nachika, the most wanted tribal leader for Odisha Police, has been on the run evading arrest for his alleged involvement in several criminal cases, including murder, arson and dacoity since November 2009, Koraput Superintendent of Police Awinash Kumar said today.

"Nachika remains on our wanted list and we are tracking his movements. On many occasions, we have come close to nabbing him but have been unable to do so as he moves around in a crowd. We have now formed a strategy to nab him which we cannot divulge at this stage," the SP said.

"We appeal to him to surrender and return to the mainstream. Or else, he should be ready to face police action," Kumar said.

Though Nachika has surfaced on a few occasions over the past few years and also addressed CMAS meetings, the police has been unable to arrest him.

In March, the wanted tribal leader had declared he would surrender before a local court, but did not turn up, the SP said.

Since January last year, thousands of CMAS activists have surrendered before the police, weakening the Maoist-backed outfit, but Nachika remains at large, giving the slip to security personnel time and again, Kumar said.

Nachika had gone on a land grabbing spree in Narayanpatna in 2009 during which the CMAS grabbed over 2,000 acres of land belonging to non-tribals, Kumar said.

PTI