Hyderabad: The Cyberabad Police have captured Sanjoy Deepak Rao, a top Maoist leader, near Malaysian Township, Kukatpally. The Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) had been tracking Rao for a long time and seized a revolver, a laptop, cash, and other materials from him. Rao is wanted by the police in Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and NIA. The Maharashtra government had declared a reward of Rs 25 lakh for information leading to his arrest. Rao will be interrogated to gather information about his involvement in illegal activities and his connections with activists in Telangana.
Rao completed his BTech in electrical engineering from REC (now NIIT) in Jammu and Kashmir in 1983-84. He was influenced by his father, a Communist trade union leader, and became attracted to left-wing extremist ideology. While studying in J&K, some of Rao’s friends supported the separatist movement in Kashmir. He would visit their houses in Mumbai, Pune, and Hyderabad while being cautious about his party work. In 1999, he formed the CPI ML Naxalbari group along with Konath Muralidharan (alias Ajith) and was made in-charge of Maharashtra.
Rao has faced multiple arrests in the past. He was detained by Sahadha Police in Nandurbar district in July 2000 and released later that year. He was also arrested by Mulkanoor police in Karnataka in 2005 and released in 2006. Recently, Rao came to Hyderabad from where he planned to travel to Maad for a meeting. The Cyberabad police intercepted him based on specific inputs provided by the Intelligence department.
