The arrest of Maoist ideologue Kobad Ghandy may not be of breakthrough value, contrary to what was believed initially. Ghandy, who comes from a rich Parsi family in Mumbai and who was educated at the Doon School and in London, was arrested in New Delhi on Sunday.
“He has not been keeping well for at least a year and has not been actively involved in Maoist activities for the past six or seven months,” said a senior official at the Union home ministry. “Most of the information which we may get from him might already be with us.”
It is being believed that the arrest was due to a deliberate leak and that Ghandy, 63, may end up getting treated as a political prisoner — which comes with privileges.
A ministry source said that Ghandy, a member of the CPI(Maoist)’s politburo — the highest decision-making body of the party — is suffering from severe heart and kidney ailments and had come to Delhi for treatment, and not to set up a base for the outlawed organisation.
After his arrest, Ghandy was sent to 14-day judicial custody and sent to the Tihar jail, but prison doctors referred him to the government-run Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital.
Ministry officials said that the tip-off on Ghandy came from the Jharkhand police, who might have gotten the information from Naxal sympathisers since Ghandy had moved out of areas under Maoist control and was not active in organisational work.
“The arrest is not a gain for us in the post-November scenario when more paramilitary personnel have been posted in Chhattisgarh to corner Maoists,” a ministry official said, adding that Ghandy has not yet been questioned (because he is ailing). That the arrest is of little value is illustrated by the fact that the Jharkhand police has not placed a request for questioning Ghandy, the official said; the arrest was a joint operation between the Delhi and Andhra police and took place at the Bhikaji Cama area in south Delhi.
The official said that despite the bloody fights, lines of communication have been maintained with the rebels in each of the 186 districts where they are influential.
“There are several levels of communication between security agencies, the local police and the Maoists,” he said.
