ROURKELA: The prize catch that top Maoist leader Prasant Munda alias Azad (28) is, Rourkela police have now pinned their hopes on his confessions to get an insight into the rebel strategy in the dense Saranda forest.Prasant is the second-in-command of the outfit’s Dakshin Chhota Nagpur Zonal Committee after Samarjee alias Anmol Hembram. He along with women cadres __ Gurubari Tarkod and Sipranti Topno __ have petitioned the State Government from jail to give themselves up. The trio were nabbed by Rourkela police on August 10 night from a Bhubaneswar-bound bus with ` 76.32 lakh. While the surrender appeal is pending, the Rourkela police seem to be anxious to extract as much information as they could from them. Police said Prasant could turn out to be an asset for the Rourkela police as he knows every nook and cranny of the Saranda forest which was till recently a mystery __ an impregnable hideout __for security forces. If Prasant spills the beans, police will get a fair idea of the outfit’s operational strength and its leadership hierarchy along Orissa-Jharkhand border. Unlike other jailed Maoists, he is cooperative. Sources said he was frustrated with the ‘caste hegemony’ and ‘immoral activities’ of other top Maoists. A decade back the outlawed outfit set up its base in Saranda only to later convert its core area into headquarters of the Eastern Regional Bureau headed by second in command Prasant Bose alias Kisanda. Kisanda is believed to be second in hierarchy after Ganapati. If police are to be believed, the Maoist leaders operating from Saranda in recent years extended their sway to eastern India region, including Orissa, even as Sundargarh and several districts of Jharkhand remained the rebels’ safe haven. Hoping that the trio’s surrender appeal will be favourably considered, Rourkela SP Himanshu Lal said Prasant’s knowledge of the hostile terrains and Maoists’ strategy would help the security forces unravel the Saranda mystery. Meanwhile, after a week’s remand by Jharkhand police, Prasant on Sunday night returned to Rourkela Special Jail. Sources observed the local police also need the trio’s help to zero in on the Maoists who usually remain mingled with villagers.
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