Maoists Didn’t Intend to Kill Buddha in 2008: Dipak
Top arrested naxalite leader Venkateshwar Reddy alias Telugu Dipak has said that they didn’t intend to kill West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee when they encountered his convoy in 2008 but had hoped that the police action following the incidence would turn the tribals against the administration, said media reports.
“If we had the intention to kill Bhattacharjee we could have killed him. We could have used a directional mine to snap the high tension line to fall on his convoy,” Dipak, who was arrested on March 2 by the state CID, had told interrogators according to reports.
It may be mentioned that on November 2, 2008, a landmine exploded on convoy of Chief Minister and two union ministers Paswan and Jitin Prasada at Salboni in West Midnapore district.
“We wanted to police to make a mistake and crack down on the tribals, which they did. We were successful in capitalising on it to create a base for ourselves. The attack on the chief minister’s convoy was a milestone in the Maoist movement in West Bengal,” he was quoted as saying.
According to the CID officer quizzing Dipak, the Lalgarh movement by tribals started wit the blast turned into a nationwide issue compelling the central government to rethink about Maoists, reports said.
An explosive expert, Dipak admitted to have learnt to make landmines from a faction of LTTE in Tamil Nadu, said reports quoting the officer.
He was sent to Tamil Nadu between 1987 and 1995 by the Maoist top brass for political grooming. He stayed in Tamil Nadu for two years and came in touch with the LTTE group which was active in that region at that time and learnt the nitty-gritty of making landmines, the official said.
Later Dipak developed the lethal directional landmine. A close aide of Maoist Politburo member Kishanji alias Koteswar Rao, Dipak is a member of the State Military Commission, West Bengal chapter, and in-charge of the armed operations in Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand.
(Based on internet reports)
