In a prize catch, West Bengal police onTuesday night arrested top Maoist leader Venkateswar Reddy, the suspected mastermind of the attack that killed 24 Eastern Frontier Rifles personnel in Silda in West Midnapore district. Additional Director General of Police, CID, Raj Kanojia said 40-year-old Reddy, alias Telugu Dipak, was arrested from Sarshuna under South 24 Parganas district.<br/> <br/>CID sources said, Dipak is a close aide of top Maoist Leader Kishanji alias Koteswar Rao. He is a member of the State Military Commission, West Bengal chapter, and is in charge of armed operations in Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand. <br/> <br/>Dipak, who holds a mechanical engineering degree, was also the mastermind in the Maoist strikes in Silda, Sankrail, Gidhni and the Rajdhani siege incident in West Midnapore district of West Bengal since last year. An expert in explosives, Dipak was behind all major strikes in West Bengal in recent times as also the attack on Andhra Pradesh police's elite anti-Naxal force Greyhound in Balimela reservoir in Orissa's Malkangiri district killing 38 cops in June 2008.<br/> <br/>The sources said, Dipak's arrest is the biggest catch after the arrest of Maoist ideologue Kobad Ghandy.<br/> <br/>He was underground for the last 20 years and faces about 50 criminal cases most of which are in Andhra Pradesh.<br/><br/><br/>