'Couple running Maoist outfit arrested'

An Andhra Pradesh based couple, allegedly behind the spurt in Naxal violence in Bihar and Jharkhand, has been arrested.

Agriculture scientist-cum-Maoist Central Committee member Ravi Sharma and his wife B Anuradha were arrested on October 10, Hazaribagh Superintendent of Police Pankaj Kamboj has said.

He claimed that the two were running the Maoist outfit in Bihar and Jharkhand.

"Ravi Sharma alias Arjun alias Mahesh alias Ashok and his wife B Anuradha alias Rajitha hail from Andhra and have been running the Maoist outfit in Bihar and Jharkhand since 1999," he said on Wednesday.

"The duo is responsible for the sudden increase in Naxal violence in these two states. With their arrest, the Maoist movement is jolted," the SP said, adding, "Police found the whole strategy of the movement recorded in a laptop seized from them."

Vital information would also be available in the diaries and letters recovered from them, he said.

Police also found one 9 MM foreign-make revolver, cartridges and documents relating to the Maoist operation and its strategies in Bihar and Jharkhand, Kamboj added.