On Friday early morning, police arrested four youths, including Rakesh’s domestic help Raghuvar Yadav. (Representational) On Friday early morning, police arrested four youths, including Rakesh’s domestic help Raghuvar Yadav. (Representational)

The Chhattisgarh Police on Sunday arrested a man they said was a key component of the Maoist “urban network”, especially in Rajnandgaon district.

A police press release stated that N Venkat Rao (54) claimed he is a senior technical officer at the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), Hyderabad.

Police said some months ago, senior Maoist Kumarsay alias Pahad Singh had surrendered before Durg IG of Police G P Singh, and had since provided vital information on networks that operate in urban areas and provide support to underground guerrillas. They said that based on specific information, blockades were set up on the National Highway in the Bagnadi police station limits, and Rao was apprehended as he was entering the state from Maharashtra on a motorcycle.

The police said they recovered “Naxal literature”, a mobile, one laptop and 23 detonators from his possession. The recovery of the detonators will also lead to investigation of whether material from NGRI was being siphoned off to Maoists, police said.

The police said that Rao was influenced by the Radical Students Union in 1985 and has been working for the Maoists since then. The police have also alleged that in 2016 and 2017, he met Maoist Central Committee member Deepak Teltumbde and bought and delivered a laptop to him in their first meeting in 2016.

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