Woman Naxalite Carrying ₹14 Lakh Bounty Arrested In Madhya Pradesh's Balaghat

Balaghat (Madhya Pradesh): A woman Naxalite carrying a bounty of Rs 14 lakh was arrested after an encounter in a forest in Madhya Pradesh's Balaghat district, police said on Friday.

A Special Operation Group (SOG) of the state police's elite Hawk Force apprehended Sajanti (32) in the Parsatola Chichrangpur forest area on Thursday, a senior police official said.

Sajanti, a native of Gadchiroli in neighbouring Maharashtra, was a member of the Khatia Mochi area committee and joined the banned outfit in 2011, he said.

Acting on a tip-off, the SOG launched a search operation and nabbed the woman while another Naxalite managed to escape from the spot, the official said.

When the SOG was returning with Sajanti, a group of Naxalites fired 30 to 40 rounds at the team to snatch her from custody. But they fled in the dark after the police opened retaliatory fire, he said.

The Hawk Force and the CRPF's COBRA teams have launched a search operation for the group that escaped from the scene, the official said.

Sajanti was active in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh and was involved in incidents of violence in these three regions.

She has six cases in her name in Madhya Pradesh and carried a bounty of Rs 14 lakh, including Rs 3 lakh announced in Madhya Pradesh, Rs 5 lakh in Chhattisgarh and Rs 6 lakh in Maharashtra, the official said.