Naxalite leader behind 'Bhangar movement' arrested from Odisha

West Bengal Police today arrested a Naxalite leader, the main accused in the movement in South 24 Parganas' Bhangar against a proposed power grid, from Bhubaneswar in Odisha, a senior official said.

Alik Chakraborty, who has been booked for his involvement in the Bhangar movement, was picked up from a tea stall outside a hospital in Bhubaneswar this morning, SP Baruipur, Arijit Sinha, told PTI.

Chakraborty, who is in his mid-40s, had organised a movement in Bhangar against a proposed power grid that witnessed violence last year resulting in the death of one person.

"We had inputs that he had gone to Bhubaneswar for treatment. We picked him up from a tea stall outside a hospital in Bhubaneswar," Sinha said.

The CID was on the lookout for Chakraborty, a politburo member of small Naxalite outfit CPI(ML)(Red Star).

"Apart from the UAPA (Unlawful Activities [Prevention] Act, 1967), Chakraborty was wanted in several cases including murder and torching police vehicles and others," the police officer said.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had been claiming that Maoists were inciting villagers in Bhangar.