Three months after Kishenji,CPI-Maoist politburo member and chief of the military wing of the Maoists,was shot in an encounter,his closest aide Suchitra surrendered before Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the state secretariat in Kolkata today.
Wife of slain CPI-Maoist state committee member Sashadhar Mahato,Suchitra said she was impressed with Didis development initiatives in Junglemahal and wanted to return to a normal life. But I do not want to talk now,if necessary I will speak my mind later, she added.
Suchitra joined the CPI-Maoist after she married Sashadhar,a resident of Lalgarh and brother of PCAPA chief Chhatradhar Mahato. She climbed the ranks of the CPI-Maoist very quickly given her tremendous encounter skills and led several Maoist operations from the front. She is said to have become the closest aide of Kishenji after her husband Sashadhar was shot dead in an encounter in West Midnapore in March 2011 and after Anu aka Kalpana,wife of CPI-Maoist state secretary Akash,was arrested by the Special Task Force of Kolkata Police in February 2011.
Security forces have evidence that Suchitra was with Sashadhar when he was killed in an encounter. Similarly,she was also with Kishenji at Burishol village where he was killed in an encounter with the security forces,raising doubts about her among Maoist cadres.
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Though a Maoist source claimed that Suchitra might have played a role in helping security forces trap Sashadhar and Kishenji,there is also evidence that Suchitra was to be inducted in the state committee of the CPI-Maoist. A senior police official said that police recovered a document four months ago in which Suchitras name was proposed for induction in the state committee. However,after Kishenjis death,the CPI-Maoist leadership conducted a thorough inquiry into the encounter,which cast doubts about Suchitras presence with Kishenji and his subsequent death in the encounter,said a Maoist leader.
Mamata,while presenting Suchitra and her second husband before the media today,requested that Suchitra should not be asked about her past. These are personal things. Why should one want to know where they stayed and what they did? The positive thing is that they have come back to the mainstream life and democratic process.
Till she surrendered,Suchitra was a member of Bengal Jharkhand Orissa Bihar Regional Committee. However,after Kishenjis death,she was running from one place to another to save herself from the squad members of her own party.
While surrendering to the CM,Suchitra claimed she had married Prabir Garai,a resident of her own village,one month ago.
According to police records,Prabir,a resident of Sarenga police station area in Bankura,was arrested in a case of recovery of explosives. Prabir admitted he was a member of PCAPA and took part in the Lalgarh movement. Suchitra has 17 cases against her including murder,arms cases and sedition,while Prabir does not have any other charge against him.
A senior police official said that Prabir,who earlier was a supporter of Jharkhand Disham party,shifted his allegiance to Trinamool a year ago and Suchitra was in touch with him for the past three years.
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