Cops reach wanted Maoist's village in Hazaribag, ask him to surrender

: After three wanted Maoists, including central committee member (CCM) Sahdev Soren was killed by the earlier this week, the police are tightening its noose around . A resident of Keredari who is also known by his aliases Subhash and Anuj, Mahto carries a reward of Rs 15 lakh. His wife Natasha is also a wanted Maoist.

Police teams led by Keredari police station sub inspector Tinku Kumar Singh on Friday reached Mahto’s ancestral home in Kuthan village in Keredari block. “The team pasted a poster at his house asking him and Natasha to surrender,” Singh said. Mahto was drawn into the cultural troupe of the outfit as a teenager and then shifted base to Chaibasa after meeting Uday Ganjhu, a former area commander. Gradually, he rose to become a platoon commander.

Mahto was arrested once but escaped during the Chaibasa jailbreak in 2011 and is at large since then. Over time, he climbed the ranks and now operates as a regional commander. Mahto, sources said, leads a Maoist squad which occassionally enters Hazaribag and Giridih zones. In Kuthan, his sister in-law and two nieces currently live in the family home.