Two tantriks with Naxal links arrested in Chhattisgarh

Police have arrested two members of a CPI (Maoist) faction who were allegedly running a school in Chhattisgarh's Jashpur district for the children of their colleagues and motivating youngsters to join the Naxal movement.
Gowardhan alias Panda (40) and Kamal (45), members of the banned People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI), were nabbed from forests under Shankargadh police station limits in Balrampur district bordering Jharkhand on May 25, Shankargadh Station House Officer R L Tunde told PTI over phone today.
According to the SHO, Gowardhan and Kamal were popular as tantriks ("witch doctors") in Sulesa area of Jashpur, where they were operating a small ashram school for children of the rebels who had been arrested in the past few months in Balrampur.

Besides, they were also mobilising youths in the area and motivating them to join the armed movement, he said.
Three other PLFI cadres Bokha and Gopal, natives of Shankargadh and Bajrang in Jharkhand, were also helping the duo in these tasks, he said, adding, efforts are on to nab them.
Preliminary investigation showed Gowardhan, a native of Sulesa, was earlier associated with Kailash Gufa ashram from where he learnt tantrik practices.

Later, he started his own ashram where several local villagers joined him as disciples to learn tantrik practices like "jhar-phuk" (incantation of charm), the SHO said.
After coming to know about his popularity, Bokha approached Gowardhan and urged him to propagate the Maoist ideology among tribal youths and promised him a hefty sum for his services, Tunde said.

Notably, 11 Naxals were held along with arms and ammunition in March this year and six more cadres in December last year from Balrampur district and all them were allegedly connected with Gowardhan, the SHO said.
The duo's further interrogation is expected to bring out more about the activities of banned CPI (Maoist) in the region, he added.