West Bengal police arrest top Maoist leader Akash

On September 17, 2026, the Special Task Force of the West Bengal Police apprehended top Maoist leader Asim Mandal, known by his alias Akash. Mandal had been a member of the Central Committee and Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) West Bengal State Committee-I since the 1980s. The government offered a total bounty of ₹2.20 crore for his capture, with ₹1 crore from Jharkhand and another ₹1.20 crore from Odisha.

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari emphasized the state's zero-tolerance policy towards extremist ideologies, stating that Mandal was apprehended from Patashpur in Purba Medinipore. He vowed that the government would not allow the revival or expansion of the "Red Terror" network within the state's borders. According to officials, Mandal took charge of the Bengal unit of CPI (Maoist) in 2011 upon the death of senior commander Kishenji.

He had been active in Jharkhand recently as the insurgency dwindled in West Bengal after Kishenji's demise. Police have been tracking his movements for a while and arrested him on Thursday after receiving internal intelligence. He entered West Bengal's Patashpur seeking refuge. Police are questioning Mandal to gather operational details about active cadre networks.

The government might consider assisting his return to mainstream society, provided he expresses a willingness to do so. Maoist insurgency had a strong presence in West Bengal-Jharkhand border areas, including Purulia, Paschim Medinipore, and Jhargram, but it waned after Kishenji's death in 2011. The Trinamool Congress government launched extensive operations with Central forces and state police to dismantle rebel bases and introduced a surrender-cum-rehabilitation scheme for Maoist leaders to reintegrate them into society.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had set a deadline of March 31, 2026 to eliminate Left extremism nationwide.