Maoist leader carrying Rs 45 lakh on his head arrested

Top Maoist leader Motilal Soren alias Sandeep Soren, wanted by police forces in both Jharkhand and Odisha and carrying a reward of Rs 45 lakh on his head, was arrested from West Singhbhum district, a senior police officer said today.
DIG (Kolhan) Saket Kumar Singh said police had a tip-off that Sandeep Soren would arrive in Jetiya football ground to witness a match, and Superintendent of Police Anish Gupta accordingly cordoned off the area after constituting a police team last evening.
Sandeep Soren, a 'zonal commander' of the CPI (Maoist), was arrested from there.
Police recovered a USA-made 9 mm pistol, five live cartridges from his possession, while six bombs kept hidden were recovered on the leads provided by him during interrogation, the DIG said.

The Jharkhand government has announced a reward of Rs 25 lakh on his head, while the Odisha government announced Rs 20 lakh reward, he said.
Sandeep Soren, who was active in Saranda area of West Singhbhum and Odisha, was the mastermind of Chaibasa jailbreak incident of 2011, the police officer said, adding that he and two other Naxals had managed to escape in the incident.
The DIG said 19 cases were registered against Sandeep Soren before the jailbreak, while 17 more cases were lodged against him after that in West Singhbhum alone.
Sandeep Soren was allegedly involved in the killings of two villagers in Jetiya police station limit last month.