Five Maoists Arrested In Chhattisgarh: Police

Five Maoists allegedly involved in planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to target security forces have been arrested from Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, the police said on Saturday.

According to the police, those arrested were also involved in the IED blast near Kasaram rivulet of the district, in which an officer of the Central Reserve Police Force's (CRPF) CoBRA unit was killed earlier this month.

The cadres were apprehended on Friday from two places in Kistaram police station area, where a joint team of security forces was out on a search-cum-area domination operation, Sukma senior police official Sunil Sharma told PTI.

Personnel from the CRPF, its elite unit CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action), District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Special Task Force (STF) were involved in the operation, he said.

When the patrolling team was cordoning off jungles near Kasaram village, located around 450 km from capital Raipur, three suspects were rounded up as they tried to flee on seeing the troopers, he said. During interrogation, they admitted to their association with the outlawed CPI (Maoist) and based on the information provided by them, two more ultras were later apprehended from nearby Tinganpalli forest, the official said.

The arrested cadres Madvi Dudhwa (20), Madvi Ganga (24), Komram Lachhu (20), Sodhi Ganga (40) and Madvi Deva (35) were active as janmilitia members of Maoists, he said.

The team also recovered a gelatin rod, electric detonator, pressure cooker, steel boxes, electric wire and batteries, all used in making IEDs, from a Maoist hideout in the same area on the basis of inputs provided by them, Mr Sharma said.

On December 13, a deputy commandant of CoBRA 208th battalion was injured when an IED, allegedly planted by the five cadres, exploded while it was being defused by security personnel, he said.

The officer later died due to his injuries at a hospital in Raipur, the official added.