Red Star leader Alik Chakraborty of West Bengal arrested in Odisha capital

Bhubaneswar: Red Star leader Alik Chakraborty, who had been leading the anti-power grid agitation in Bhangar in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal for the past few years, was arrested from a private hospital here on Thursday after a joint raid by Odisha and West Bengal police.

Alik Chakraborty, West Bengal’s most wanted Naxal leader, is a politburo member of small Naxalite outfit CPI (ML) Red Star and the face of movement in Bhangar against a power grid, said police.

Booked under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Chakraborty has been evading the police while organising the movement through his network, said police.

Police said around 70 cases were pending at various police stations in the neighbouring state against Chakraborty.

The West Bengal government had been trying to arrest the Naxal leader for more than a year. He was shielded by residents of over 30 agitating villages in Bhangar I block where the power grid was planned to be established over 16 acres of land.