‘Maoist’ from Pune, known as ‘laptop’, arrested 15 yrs after he went missing

Following a rigorous search operation, the Pune unit of ATS nabbed Kamble and handed him over to the Thane unit. Subsequently, he was placed under arrest and produced before the court in Thane on Sunday. The court remanded him in police custody for seven days for further investigation.

Police sources said that Kamble has worked closely with Milind alias Deepak Teltumbe, central committee member of CPI-Maoist, who was killed in an encounter with security forces in Gadchiroli in November 2021.

Sources said that Kamble was widely known among the CPI (Maoist) cadres as “laptop” because of his skills in repairing laptops and computers.

Inspector General of police and chief of Maharashtra’s anti-naxal operation Sandeep Patil confirmed Kamble’s arrest.

As per police records, Kamble was residing with his family members at the Tadiwala road slums in Pune city.
A graduate from a college in Pune, he was allegedly associated with the city-based cultural outfit Kabir Kala Manch (KKM), which according to the police is a “frontal organisation of Maoists”.

Kamble, then 28, left home on November 15, 2010, on the pretext of going to Mumbai for work. After he did not return, his family filed a missing complaint at the Bundgarden police station in Pune on January 18, 2011. It stated that Kamble told his family that he was going to Mumbai for some computer repair work.

As per police records, one more KKM member identified as Santosh Vasant Shelar alias Vishwa alias Painter of Kasewadi slum in Bhavani Peth, had gone missing along with Kamble and both later allegedly joined (CPI-Maoist).

In mid 2011, Shelar and Kamble were booked by Maharashtra ATS along with 14 other persons, including an alleged top CPI Maoist operative Angela Sontakke and a few artists of KKM for their alleged links to the banned Maoist group.
According to the ATS, Angela and her husband Milind Teltumbe had allegedly indoctrinated some of the KKM members including Shelar and Kamble towards Maoist ideology.

As per the statement given by Kamble’s brother to the ATS in 2011, some days after he went missing, he allegedly called up his family saying, “I have joined Naxals…I am working with them in jungles… have got arms training and am using my computer knowledge for them. All doors to come back are closed. I have moved on….”

While Shelar and Kamble were absconding, all those who were arrested in this case by the ATS including Angela and KKM members were later released on bail by different courts and have claimed that they were framed by the police.
Shelar was arrested by the ATS in January 2024, when he came home in due to ill health, nearly 14 years after he was reported to be missing. Shelar is currently in jail and is facing multiple cases related to activities of banned CPI Maoist in Maharashtra and Chattisgarh.

Since Shelar’s arrest, the ATS sleuths had intensified their search for Kamble. ATS is now probing his involvement in different Maoist activities in jungles as well as in urban areas in Maharashtra and other states.

Meanwhile, two accused in this case, Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor, both KKM artists, who were among the key organisers of the Elgaar Parishad in Pune, were arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in September 2020, for alleged links with CPI-Maoist.

According to a police probe, the Elgaar Parishad held at Shaniwar Wada on December 31, 2017 allegedly received funds from the CPI-Maoist and that speeches delivered at the conclave along with previous campaigns for the event were among the factors that led to the Koregaon Bhima violence on January 1, 2018.

A press release issued by the ATS on Sunday stated that Kamble was residing in Khopoli in Raigad district of Maharashtra for the last seven years and teaching tribal students.

Kamble was nabbed on Saturday. After verification, he was placed under arrest on Sunday. A court in Thane demanded him to police custody till May 13, the press release stated.