The Kurkheda Tehseel president of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Kailash Ramchandani, was reportedly arrested in the IED blast case in Gadchiroli in which 15 policemen and a civilian were killed in May. In addition to this, the blast case will be handed over to the National Investigating Agency (NIA) by the local police.
On May 1, a civilian vehicle carrying 15 Gadchiroli police personnel which was headed for the Purada police station after being informed by the Sub-Divisional Police Officer Shailesh Kale of an incident of arson committed by Maoists a few kilometres from Purada was blown away by an IED blast. All 15 police personnel and a civilian lost their lives in the incident.
Investigating the case, the Gadchiroli police had obtained their first big success in arresting senior Naxal leaders Narmada and Kiran. According to the inputs provided by them and the technical evidence available, the police arrested Dilip Hidami, Parsaram Tulvi, Somnath Madavi, Kisan Hidami and Sukru Gota.
After taking custody of these 5 accused, their interrogation revealed Kurkheda Tehseel President of the NCP, Kailash Ramchandani’s involvement in the IED blast. Kailash owns an Electronics shop and is serving as the district president of the NCP from last several months. The police believe that several other big names might be involved in the blast as well.
The Gadchiroli police will be handing over the probe to the NIA in the next 2-3 days. On being asked why the NIA is being given the probe, the Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police Shailesh Balkawde said that the NIA has decided to take up some of the Naxalite cases. “They have also taken some cases in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand as well,” he said.
