Man acting as courier for top Naxalite leaders held in Chhattisgarh

CHATTISGARH: A man allegedly working as a courier for senior Naxalite leaders was arrested in Chhattisgarh's Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki district on Thursday, a police official said.

Maoist pamphlets and posters urging people to boycott Lok Sabha polls were seized from Ashwant Aandhia, who was held on a tip off at a mobile check post of the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and personnel of Sitagaon police station, he said.

During interrogation, Aandhia admitted he was a courier for senior Naxalite leaders Vijay Reddy, Lokesh Salame, Rupesh, Mangesh, Vinod and Raje and used to ferry their money, the official said.

"Last month, Reddy had allegedly given him Rs 2 lakh and some Maoist pamphlets to be dropped in Raipur. Andhia delivered the money to an unidentified person in front of a university near Saraswati Nagar police station in Raipur on March 20," he said.

"The person who received the money gave a sealed envelope to Aandhia and it was delivered to Reddy. Aandhia also bought a memory card from Raipur for Reddy as per his instruction. Aandhia got Rs 5000 for the work. He was also asked to distribute Maoist pamphlets and posters," the official added.

A case was registered and further probe into the Naxalite network is underway, the official said.