Prayagraj: UP ATS arrests couple for involvement in naxal activities

Lucknow: A couple was arrested by the Anti Terror Squad (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh police from Prayagraj district for their alleged involvement in naxalite activities, an official spokesman said here.

The spokesman said, "Binda Sona and her husband Kripa Shankar Singh, who are prominent members of banned organisation Community Party of India (Maoist), have been arrested by the ATS from Prayagraj."

He said that in 2019 a case was lodged against 7 persons. "These persons were accused of involvement in executing or getting done naxal incidents in different states of the country. At that time two persons were arrested and the electronic devices used by them were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for examination," he said.

The spokesman said that investigation was continuing against one of the accused Binda Sona and her husband Kripa Shankar. "The FSL report received this month proved that the couple was a prominent member of CPI (Maoist) and planning to wage a war against the country," he said.

He said that Kripa Shankar, who hails from Kushinagar district in UP, joined an NGO in Raipur in 2004 where he came into contact with Binda and got married. "During that period they got associated with the banned organisation. On the directive of the organisation they came to Delhi in 2007-08. From where they came back in 2010 and started propagating the Maoist ideology among students, farmers and workers in rural areas of Deoria and Kushinagar district," he said.

The spokesman said that in 2010 Kripa Shankar was arrested from Kidwai Nagar in Kanpur in connection with a case lodged by ATS, but got bail in 2016. "After getting released from jail Kripa Shankar and his wife Binda once again involved in naxal activities," he said.

He said that since then, the couple was working with the top leaders of the central committee and polit bureau of the banned organisation in UP and Northern Bihar. "The couple is being produced before the court and further legal action is being taken as per the rules," he said.