PERU: Members of Shining Path rebel group are captured in Peru.

Record ID: 601203

  • Title: PERU: Members of Shining Path rebel group are captured in Peru.
  • Date: 27th August 2010
  • Summary: SLATE INFORMATION
  • Embargoed: 11th September 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Peru
  • Country: Peru
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVABHCGX14RBZZE9G655FVXOHS4M
  • Story Text: Peruvian police capture three alleged members of the Shining Path guerrillas who took part in terrorist actions in the past.
    Peruvian police arrested three alleged members of the Shining Path rebel group on Wednesday (August 25) during overnight raids.
    The brothers Roberto and Eloy Espinoza, who are suspected of having taken part in several terrorist actions, were captured in the village of Aucallama, some 50 kilometers to the north of capital Lima.
    The head of the Peru's anti-terrorism office Dircote, Edwin Palomino, said they would further investigate the criminal records of the two brothers.
    "We have arrested two people who have not yet been identified and who are in preliminary detention because they belong to the main force of the Shining Path from the Alto Huallaga (region). These two alleged criminals have taken part in different armed attacks," he said.
    Police also detained Bernabe Morales, better known as "Comrade Artemio", in the region of Alto Huallaga to the northeast of Lima. Morales is accused of charging fees from businessmen in exchange for their lives.
    Maximo Sanchez, chief of the anti-terrorist division of Tingo Maria, said Morales was one of the group's leaders.
    "We carried out a police raid on the 23rd of August during the night and as a result we captured this leader (Bernabe Morales) who has a criminal record as a terrorist -- 'Comrade Santos'," he said.
    The Maoist Shining Path launched a bloody war against the state in 1980. The group largely disbanded after its founder was captured, but two splinter groups remain active in the Andean nation's coca-growing regions.
    About 50 police officers and soldiers have died in the past two years fighting rebels.
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