Top Maoist leader arrested in Jharkhand

Acting on a tip-off, the police arrested Birbal Oraon from Latehar, Latehar police station officer-in-charge Ravikant Prasad told mediapersons.

A self-styled deputy section commander of Communist Party of India [ Images ] -Maoist, Oraon used to operate in Latehar, he said.

Prasad claimed that during interrogation Oraon has admitted to blowing up of two buildings, housing a school and a health centre, in April this year in Latehar.

The Maoist leader was allegedly a part of a guerrilla squad that gunned down five policemen on July 29, the police official said.

"Oraon also admitted that he had made an abortive attempt to target a police van when he fitted a 100-kg bomb under a culvert at Podialana on March 19, 2009," Prasad said.