Maoist leader remanded in India

Indian authorities say the rebels are the 'biggest threat' to security

A top Maoist leader in India has been remanded in police custody after his arrest over the weekend.

Himadri Sen Roy, alias Comrade Somen, was held in eastern West Bengal state on Saturday and charged with waging war against the government of India.

A court in the state remanded him in police custody till 7 March. The police said he would be questioned.

About 6,000 people have been killed in violence linked to the Maoist rebels in India over the past 20 years.

The police have also charged Himadri Sen Roy with illegal possession of weapons and for a series of murders in West Bengal and neighbouring states.

The 60-year-old leader heads the West Bengal unit of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and is a member of the underground party's all-powerful politburo.

'Biggest threat'

He was arrested as he got off a train at a suburban railway station.

One of the leader's closest confidantes, Deba, was also arrested with him. This is the biggest setback suffered by the Maoists in West Bengal since the arrest of another leader, Sushil Roy, two years ago.

Roy headed the Bengal unit and was, like Himadri Sen Roy, a member of the Maoist politburo.

The Maoists are active in many states across east and central India.

They focus on areas where people are poor but there is great mineral wealth.

The rebels say they represent the rights of landless farmhands and tribal communities.

They have recently unleashed a wave of violent attacks against security forces across eastern and central India, the worst being the attacks on several police stations in Nayagarh district of Orissa.

They have also enforced strikes in India's mineral heartland.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said the Maoist movement is the "biggest threat to India's national security".