BHOPAL: The arrest of an alleged Maoist courier in Madhya Pradesh on July 7 has revealed the insurgents' desperation to convert their cash stash after demonetisation in November 2016, say police.
The suspect, Ghanshyam Aachale, has said during interrogation that a senior Maoist leader in Gadchiroli had approached him to convert Rs 1 crore post-notebandi, say police.
Aachale, a resident of Maharashtra, was among eight suspects nabbed in a joint operation by central intelligence agencies and state police in MP's Balaghat district with a cache of ammunition, explosives and other materials.
According to police, when demonetization rendered the Maoists cash useless, the insurgents began approaching people like Aachale to convert their hoard into usable currency. Aachale was already working as a courier and supply agent for the insurgents when he was asked to convert Rs 1 crore in demonetised currency, but he failed, said officers who are interrogating him.
Police say Aachale is an important cog in a network that supplies weapons, explosives, binoculars and mobiles to Maoists in Gondia, Gadchiroli (Maharashtra), Balaghat (MP) and Chhattisgarh.
Based on their information, police have arrested two more alleged Maoist couriers -- Bachan Khandare of Amgaon village in Gondia, and Baljur Uike of Borwan village in MP's Balaghat -- and seized a pistol and bullets from them, say police. This takes the number of arrests to 10.
Police teams have been dispatched to Dhar and Barwani in MP, Kota in Rajasthan and Mumbai in search of their other associates.
On July 7, police had seized three semi-automatic pistols, magazines for pistols and AK-47 rifles and eight gelatin rods from the eight suspects. Later, investigators recovered a pistol, 486 bullets and two binoculars buried in Aachale's home.
