Ranchi, Aug 10 (IANS): Politburo member and one of the top leaders of CPI (Maoist) Pramod Mishra has been arrested. Dozens of cases are registered against him in Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.

He has played an important role in the expansion of Maoist organisation in many states including Delhi, Punjab and Haryana. He had taken shelter at some hideout in Gaya district along the Jharkhand-Bihar border.

Till a few months ago, he was active in Jharkhand's Saranda area.

The police of Bihar's Gaya district caught him along with one of his associates, Anil Yadav. However, his arrest has not been officially confirmed yet.

Pramod Mishra is counted as the mastermind and chief strategist in the Maoist organisation at the country level. He remained in jail for years and went underground after being released in 2017 due to lack of evidence. Pramod Mishra's name also appeared in the United States Department's Country Reports on Terrorism 2006. He is originally a resident of Kasma village under Rafiganj police station in Aurangabad district of Bihar. He is known in the organisation by names like Sohan Da, Shukla Ji, Kanhaiya, Jagan Bharat Ji, Noor Baba, Bibi Ji, Agni and Baan Bihari.

Pramod Mishra was earlier arrested by Jharkhand Police's STF on March 14, 2009 from Vinod Nagar in Dhanbad.

After being released from jail in 2017 due to lack of evidence, he once again became active in Naxalite activities. Two years ago, four members of a family were hanged by Maoists in Gaya on charges of being informers. It is said that he had ordered them to be hanged.

The NIA and the police had been trying to arrest him for the past several months. On May 3, the NIA raided his ancestral residence and relatives' house.