Jamshedpur, May 11: In a major breakthrough, the district police nabbed two CPI-Maoist ultras and recovered two firearms as well as ammunition from Bota village under the Patamda police station area on Tuesday.
Those arrested are the active members of the CPI-Maoist’s Patamda-Dalma squad led by their commander Rahul. The arrested have been identified as Ravana Pahadia (19) and Madhusudan Pahadia (20), both residents of Bota village.
A team of police officials led by DSP (Patamda) Amit Kumar and Quick Reaction Team of the adjoining MGM police station undertook the operation successfully.
Addressing the media, superintendent of police (rural) M Arshi said that the two rebels were arrested as they had returned to their homes after being separated from the Rahul’s armed squad, which visited Patamda frequently.
Arshi said they had nabbed Ravana and Madhusudan one after another on Tuesday evening, and after probing them, the police recovered two pistols that the rebels had hidden under the trees at two separate places. He informed that a sophisticated revolver and two live cartridges that they recovered were found lying hidden under a tree beside a canal today.
Another pistol and two live cartridges that belonged to Madhusudan were recovered from a jungle in Bota.
Arshi described the arrests as a major achievement for the forces. During the interrogation, the two arrested rebels have confessed that they had participated in an encounter with the police at Amda Pahadi in Patamda on the morning of April 17, which had lasted for about 15 minutes.
“We have gathered information that the outlawed outfit had started regaining their base in Patamda which they had to leave in 2009-10 due to a mounted pressure on them by the police and para-military CRPF,” said the superintendent of police.
According to intelligence sources, the CPI-Maoist rebels have once again become active in Dalma-Patamda-Ghatshila belt bordering Bengal.
Sources informed that the high alert has been after intelligence report that the ultras may attack the Naxal-infested areas of Ghatshila and Patamda. “We have alerted security forces in vulnerable areas of Patamda, Ghatshila and Potka in view of the bandh call given by the Naxalites,” said a police official.
�A strict vigil would be kept on the non government commercial establishments. Even the security would be beefed up at some of the Naxal-prone areas of Ghatshila and Dumaria,� said a police official.
Sources informed that the police have decided to ensure strict vigil and deploy additional security forces in the fringe areas.
�Security has been beefed up in the area and they were keeping strict vigil on movement of the Naxalites. The plan is to keep a tab on the camps being operated by ultras,� said another official.