Raipur: Five Naxals, one of them carrying cash reward on his head, were today arrested from a forest in the insurgency-hit Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, police said.
The cadres were nabbed in the wee hours from the forest of Ganganpalli village under Basaguda police station limits when a joint team of CoBRA’s (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) 204th battalion and district force was out on a search-cum-area domination operation, a district police official told PTI.
On getting specific inputs about the movement of some wanted ultras, security forces had launched the operation in the interior areas of Basaguda last night, he said.
While cordoning off Ganganpalli forest in the wee hours, they rounded up five suspects, who were trying to escape from there.
During the interrogation, they admitted that they were associated with the outlawed Maoists, he said.
Ganganpalli is located around 450 kms away from the state capital Raipur.
Of the arrested, Velkamrama (25), who was active as head of Dandakarnya Adivasi Kisan Mazdoor Sangthan (DAKMS)- a frontal wing of Maoists, was carrying a reward of Rs one lakh on his head, he said.
The other four arrested ultras were identified as Podiyam Shankar (25), Karam Ramesh (20), Odiyam Hurra (25) and Sodhi Samaiyya (30), all active as lower rung members, who function as support base for Naxalites at villages, he said.
They were allegedly involved in the incidents of triggering blasts and firing on security forces in Basaguda region, the official added.