Contractors held with Rs 1.76 crore meant for Naxals

Nagpur: In the biggest haul in recent years, the Gadchiroli police has arrested three tendu leaves’ contractors for carrying cash to the tune of Rs 1.76 crore which they were to deliver to Naxalites.

The trio identified as Pahadiya Tampla (35), Ravi Tankam (45), and Nagraj Putta (37) were arrested at Alapalli Road by Aheri police of south Gadchiroli in the early hours of May 23.

A police patrol of Pranhita headquarters of Aheri led by PSI Milan Kurkure spotted a four-wheeler without number plate and intercepted the unregistered vehicle, leading to seizure and arrests.

The police found Rs 75 lakh stashed in the car. Suspecting Naxal links, PSI Kurkure later informed Aheri police station.

The three tendu leaves’ contractors were thoroughly interrogated about the cash and also Naxal literature recovered from their vehicle. On Tuesday, they admitted that Rs 1 crore and one lakh cash had been hidden somewhere in the forest.

The remaining amount was also recovered from the spot. The three were produced before a local court on Tuesday and remanded to police custody till May 28. They confessed that they were headed for Korchepalli near Damrancha to deliver the cash to Naxals.

Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Gajanan Tempe is supervising the investigation, Gadchiroli police PRO Tejaswi Patil on Wednesday told The Asian Age.

The link between tendu leaves’ contractors and Naxals is well known, police sources said.

A Naxalite who surrendered to the police, Manik Taram, in an earlier interview revealed that Naxals got Rs 70 per bag of tendu leaves from contractors. Taram, hailing from Chichgarh Dalam, had surrendered to the Deori police station.