08 July,2019 07:23 AM IST | Mumbai | Suraj Ojha
Kailash Ramchandani
The Maharashtra State police have arrested a former leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) for allegedly sharing the police's location with Maoists who later orchestrated an IED attack on a Gadchiroli police convoy on May 1. In the attack, 15 policemen and a civilian were killed.
The arrested accused has been identified as Kailash Ramchandani, a former Tehsil unit president. He was arrested last week after another accused named him.
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An officer said that Ramchandani has confessed to passing on information to Maoists. His name first came up in the testimony of senior Maoist leader Appuganti Nirmal Kumar alias Narmadakka alias Narmada Didi, 58, and her husband Rani Sathyanarayana alias Kiran alias Kiran Dada Narmada, 70, who were arrested last month from Telangana. Narmada named him in her statement and spoke of his close proximity to Maoists.
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An officer said, "We found call details from his phone lasting eight seconds. He had made the call just after the convoy had left for Kurkhede. We are examining his phone and the calls he made in the last one year."
NIA has taken over this case because it is not just another attack but a huge conspiracy planned to shake Gadchiroli and to capture the area again. There are many more names expected to come up following Ramchandani's full testimony. He has been remanded in jail custody till July 12.
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Ravindra Wasekar, Gadchiroli district president, NCP, said, "He wasn't working properly so we removed him from the post of taluka president. He was merely a worker at the time of his arrest. The party will now take action to expel him."
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