Wanted Naxalite held by UP ATS

A wanted Naxalite carrying a reward of Rs 50,000 on his arrest was held Wednesday by the Uttar Pradesh Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) from Bareilly, police said.

Kheem Singh was arrested from outside the Bareilly railway station on a specific information provided by Manish Srivastava, who was in custody for his alleged involvement in Naxal activities, Inspector General of the squad Asim Arun said.

Singh, who hailed from Uttarakhand was on his way to Dhanbad to meet his fellow cadres, the IG said, adding a country made pistol, cartridges, a pen drive, a knife and a wire cutter were recovered from his possession.

The accused is being brought to Lucknow and will be presented before the court where attempts will be made to take him in remand.

Singh was active in many farmers' agitations between 1983 and 2003 and was a member of CPI (Maoist), the police said.

He was wanted in a number of cases in Uttarakhand, they said, adding the state police had declared a reward of Rs 50,000 on his arrest.

Earlier this month, the state ATS had arrested a couple -- Manish Srivastava and his wife Varsha alias Anita Srivastava -- from Bhopal for their suspected involvement in Naxal activities.

The couple hailed from Machhalishahar in Jaunpur and was living in Bhopal, using fake documents.