RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh Police arrested seven, including three minors for their alleged involvement in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion that claimed the lives of 10 jawans and a driver in the strife-torn Dantewada on April 26.
After the Maoist attack at Aranpur in Dantewada, the police had named nine cadres of the banned outfit, belonging to Malangir Area Committee of the Darbha, south Bastar. The five Maoists are carrying a total reward of Rs 15 lakh on their heads.
The Maoists issued a press note on Monday criticising the police alleging that several simple (innocent) villagers have been arrested and subjected to torture. “Such arrests should stop and the villagers taken into custody should be released,” said the statement.
The Bastar police termed the allegations as absolutely baseless. According to the Dantewada police, the arrests were based on the evidence gathered from the spot, the crucial information secured and the consequent investigations.
“The authorities have identified some individuals involved in the attack. Three minors who were detained were sent to juvenile correctional facility and four identified as Budhra Madvi, Jitendra Muchaki, Hidma Madkam and Hidma Madvi remanded to judicial custody”, a senior police officer stated.
The four arrested were active in the Darbha division of the outlawed CPI (Maoist). Eleven persons including ten District Reserve Guards (DRGs) were killed after the private vehicle in which they were returning from the operation was ambushed and hit by a powerful IED blast triggered by the Maoists at Aranpur about 450 km south of Raipur.
In the huge cache of arms and ammunition handed over by the Maoists, the police recovered two AK-56 rifles, one SLR rifle, one INSAS rifle, two .303 rifles, one US-made rifle, one air gun, two country-made rifles, one pistol and 1,855 ammunition of different calibres and other explosives.
“The extensive anti-Maoist patrolling and search operations are being carried out in the area to trace out and interrogate suspected rebels and individuals involved in the incident. More details would be shared after the ongoing investigation”, said Siddharth Tiwari, Dantewada district police chief. Dantewada is among the seven Maoist-affected districts in the conflict zone of Bastar.
5 Maoists surrender to police in Jharkhand
Five Maoists, including a zonal commander having a bounty of Rs 10 lakh on his head, surrendered before the police in Jharkhand on Monday. According to the police, all of them were wanted in various cases in different police stations across the state.