The two Maoist leaders will be produced in court on Sunday.
The Special Task Force of the Kolkata Police has arrested two dreaded Maoists who were close to Kishenji, the Naxal leader from Andhra Pradesh, who ruled the roost in at least three districts of West Bengal for more than two years.
Both were picked up from Brigade Parade grounds under the jurisdiction of the Maidan Police Station and will be produced in court on Sunday.
Joint Commissioner of Police Vishal Garg told NDTV, "Based on reliable information from sources the Special Task Force of the Kolkata police has arrested Mansaram Hembram alias Bikash and his wife Tara. They were intercepted in Kolkata and one firearm, live ammunition, two magazines and Maoist literature were recovered their possession. Bikash was the secretary of the state military commission of the Maoists and he was in charge of the militant operations of the Maoists in West Bengal."
Bikash, who is behind many attacks like the Silda massacre, was seen in pictures holding a press conference in a village in Lalgarh in June 2009. In that press meet, Bikash had declared that the Maoists wanted to assassinate then chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. An attempt had been made to blow up Bhattacharjee's vehicle in November 2008 at Salboni in West Midnapore district.
The other arrested Maoist is Tara, a woman squad leader who abducted a police officer in 2009. The officer was released by Kishenji after days of captivity. In October 2009, the Maoists had kidnapped the then officer-in-charge of Sankrail police station, Atindra Nath Dutta after killing two of his colleagues. The entire armory of the police station was looted.
Kishenji was killed in an encounter in November 2011. After Mamata Banerjee came to power, many hardcore Maoists surrendered including Suchitra Mahato, widow of Sashadhar Mahato and Jagori Baske. Both these women squad leaders are believed to have recced an Easter Frontier Rifle camp at Silda before attacking the post and killing 24 soldiers. Suchitra Mahato is believed to have pretended to be a dancer who performed for the jawans before shooting them the next day. Both have now been rehabilitated as Home Guards in the West Bengal Police.
The police have also raided another Maoist hideout under the Mogra Police Station in Hooghly district of West Bengal after interrogating the arrested duo.