Kanker police in Chhattisgarh have arrested four Maoists allegedly involved in Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) blasts in Partapur of the district on December 14 that killed a Border Security Force (BSF) head constable.
The BSF personnel, Akhilesh Kumar Rai, a resident of Gazipur in Uttar Pradesh, had sustained severe injuries in the blast and had succumbed in the course of treatment.
Superintendent of police of Kanker Divyang Patel said that the BSF and Kanker police had registered a case and launched a manhunt following which four active Jan Militia members of the Maoist cadre were arrested on Saturday. They have been identified as Mukund Narwas, 45, Jagguram Aanchla, 45, Arjun Potai, 26 and Dashrath Dugga, 35, all residents of Partapur.
Patel said that during interrogation, the accused confessed to the crime. They had planted three explosive devices on a road near Partapur Sadaktola and a joint Road Opening Party of the BSF and Kanker police was caught in the blast. Two of the IEDs had blasted, causing grave injuries to Rai, 45. Another IED had been diffused on the spot. The SP said that the accused would be produced before court as per legal process.
Meanwhile, in Bijapur district, a joint team of security forces destroyed a Maoist camp in the Pedda Korma forests on Saturday morning.
The joint team of the District Reserve Guards (DRG) and Bastar Fighters of the Chhattisgarh police, CRPF and CoBRA battalion went on a searching operation after getting information of presence of Maoist commander and Gangalur Area Committee member Dinesh Modiyam and Gangalur local organizing squad (LOS) commander Dula Karam in the Pedda Korma forests, deputy superintendent of police, Bijapur, Tulsi Lekam said.
He said that the troops were engaged in an encounter with the Maoists after which the ultras fled the spot, but the troops destroyed a camp in the area. Large quantities of explosives, medicines, banned Maoist publicity material, literature, uniform and other daily utility items were seized from the camp. The security forces were conducting search operations in the nearby areas, the officer said.
Maoists active
Even as a new BJP-led government has taken charge in the state, Maoists have increased their activities during the past few days, possibly in a bid to show their strength. In three weeks before and after the poll results, the Maoists had triggered five IED blasts in different districts of insurgency-hit Bastar region, killing two security personnel and injuring eight others. In other incidents including an IED blast in Amdai mines in Narayanpur district, two labourers were killed and one injured. The Maoists also killed a BJP leader, Komal Manjhi, in Narayanpur on December 9, alleging that he was an illegal broker in Amdai mines dealings.
