Prompting chief minister Naveen Patnaik to appeal to naxals to eschew violence and join the mainstream. ‘The most wanted Maoist Sabyasachi Panda was arrested by police last night from Berhampur. The arrest of Panda who carried a high reward on his head is a big achievement of Odisha Police,’ Patnaik announced in the assembly on Friday.
Sabyasachi, who carried a reward of Rs five lakh on his head, was active in the Maoist movement for more than two decades, the chief minister said adding he was the guiding spirit behind formation of Chasi Mulia Samiti and Kui Lawenga Sangha in 1995 in Rayagada and Gajapati districts. Stating that these organisations were the foundation for spreading Maoist network in those areas, Patnaik said Panda was the founder of Bansadhara and Ghumusur Divisions of Odisha State Committee (OSC) and secretary of Odisha State Organising Committee (OSOC) of CPI (Maoist) till 2012.
The top Maoist was operating in Southern Odisha including the districts of Rayagada, Gajapati, Ganjam, Kandhamal and Nayagarh. Sabyasachi was involved in numerous sensational cases like the Nayagarh and R Udayagiri armoury loot, killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati.