KOLKATA, Mar 2 (PTI): In a prize catch, West Bengal police tonight arrested top Maoist leader Venkateswar Reddy, the suspected mastermind of the attack that killed 24 Eastern Frontier Rifles personnel in Silda in West Midnapore district.
Additional Director General of Police, CID, Raj Kanojia said 40-year-old Reddy, alias Telugu Dipak, was arrested from Sarshuna on the southern fringes of the city.
Dipak, a close aide of Maoist Politburo member Kishanji alias Koteswar Rao, is a member of the State Military Commission, West Bengal chapter, and is in charge of armed operations in Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand, CID sources said.
The State Military Commission of the Maoists is responsible for detailed planning, operational method and process of execution of an armed operation, the sources said.
