Senior Maoist leader Misir Besra, carrying ₹1 crore bounty, arrested in Jharkhand
Misir Besra, a senior member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and carrying a bounty of over ₹1 crore, was arrested from Jharkhand's Dhanbad district on Tuesday evening, police said.
The 65-year-old, a resident of Madnadih in Giridih district, was apprehended from the Maniadih area under the Barwadda Police Station limits. Besra, also known as Sagar Da and Bhaskar Da, had been associated with the outlawed group since 1980 and became a member of its central committee in 2003.
Police records show Besra was wanted in 141 cases and played a key role in expanding the Maoist network in Jharkhand and neighbouring states. He had also set up armed squads in the region.
Two other Maoists, including one with a ₹15 lakh reward, were also arrested during the operation, a senior officer said.
Reacting to the arrest, Devlal Besra, the Maoist's brother, said the family received information that he had been apprehended between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Tuesday in the border area between Dhanbad and Giridih. 'He has not come home since 1986-87. We have a nephew. We also had a niece, but she passed away. We had repeatedly appealed to him to return to the mainstream,' Devlal Besra said.
On Tuesday, 16 Maoists, including six carrying a combined bounty of ₹39 lakh, surrendered before the Jharkhand Police. Among them was Santosh Mahto alias Basudev Da alias Dilip, wanted in 128 cases and carrying a ₹15 lakh reward. The surrendered Maoists included two sub-zonal committee members and two area committee functionaries.
Besra's arrest is seen as a major achievement in anti-Maoist operations in Jharkhand. Earlier this year, 16 Maoists, including top leader Anal, were killed in a gunfight with security forces in West Singhbhum district. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had termed that operation 'a major success in the campaign to make the region free of Naxals.'
In a statement on the social media platform X, Shah said the 'ongoing joint operation by CRPF and Jharkhand Police has achieved a major success... with the neutralisation of the notorious bounty-wanted Naxal Central Committee member Anal worth ₹1 crore and 15 other Naxals so far.' He reiterated an appeal to remaining Maoists to 'abandon the ideology that connects to violence, terror, and arms, and join the mainstream of development.'
