NEW DELHI

The Delhi police on Wednesday arrested a 23-year-old woman “naxal” operative in north-west Delhi’s Pitampura. The woman, who hails from Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district, was living in Delhi in disguise of a domestic helper with a false identity, the police said.

According to Delhi Police, she was wanted in connection with multiple police encounters and was booked under various Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections of Arms Act, Explosives Act, and the Unlawful Activities Act.

She was declared “wanted” by the local police after a Jharkhand court on March 26, 2023 issued a non-bailable warrant against her.

Surveillance data revealed that the woman arrived in Delhi in 2020 and after assuming a false identity, she took up work as a domestic help in Noida and later shifted to Delhi’s Pitampura.

‘Credible information’

“Based on months of surveillance and intelligence gathering, the crime branch received credible information about the presence of a Maoist extremist in the National Capital Region ,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Vikram Singh said.

He further said that on Tuesday, the team carried out a raid at Maharana Pratap Enclave in Pitampura, resulting in the arrest of the Naxalite.

According to the police’s probe, the accused was born into a farming family and was recruited into the Maoist faction at the age of 10. “She received intensive training for five years at a camp led by a commander named Ramesh in Jharkhand’s Kolhan forest. The training covered handling sophisticated weapons such as INSAS rifles, SLRs, LMGs, hand grenades and .303 rifles,” the DCP said.

Further, between 2018 and 2020, she actively participated in three encounters with the Jharkhand Police first in Kolhan, then in Porahat, and later in Sonua. Following these confrontations, she was instructed by her faction commanders to go underground, the DCP added.

Multiple FIRs were registered against her at Sonua Police Station, Jharkhand, under charges, including criminal conspiracy, attempt to murder, and waging war against the state. The police is yet to produce her before the court.