Hunt for woman Maoist takes police to Andhra

CHENNAI : Three special teams were formed on Sunday to trace Padma, wife of CPI (Maoist) State secretary Vivek, who was arrested by ‘Q’ Branch sleuths on Saturday. Vivek was remanded in judicial custody till June 1 by a Magistrate Court at Lakshmipuram, Theni district, and was later lodged in the Central Prison at Madurai.Sources said one of the three police teams has gone to Andhra Pradesh as cops suspect that Padma could have escaped to that State. Police in the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu have also been put on high alert.The police later intend to seek Vivek’s police custody for questioning. Sources said the police are also gathering information on people in the State who are members of the banned outfit or lend financial support to them. The police have already warned that strong action would be taken against them.According to police sources, the couple had been absconding for the past many years and was working towards expanding the Maoist network. To do so, they even travelled to the Northern states for training. The police hope to gather information on their links with the Maoist leadership as they were trained up North.Vivek, a native of Dindigul district, was arrested early on Saturday morning by ‘Q’ branch sleuths in an apartment in Shenoy Nagar. Police said Vivek, who stayed in Chennai under various aliases, including Balan, Anandan, Raja, Kumar and Rajamani, had provided arms training to youngsters at Periyakulam, Theni district, in 2007. He had initially appeared for trial in court and later went absconding.The police tailed him for over a week before they arrested him. However, his wife Padma alias Sathya Mary escaped. The duo met in Krishnagiri in 2004. Police said that the woman was involved in providing arms training to village youth at Uthankarai in Dharmapuri district in 2006.