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Three women among four naxals held

Staff Reporter

Arms, ammunition, Maoist literature, maps and mobile phones seized from them

They were arrested in a jungle
The naxals were sent to jail

— Photo: PTI

BIG CATCH: The arrested Maoists being produced before media in Malkangiri on Friday.

BERHAMPUR: In a major breakthrough, the police arrested four naxalites, including three women, in Malkangiri district of Orissa.

According to the police, they were involved in the recent Chitrakonda and MV126 naxal attacks in the district.

The arrested naxalites were in ‘most wanted’ list of both Orissa and Andhra Pradesh police. They were arrested in the jungles of Jagalkonda under MV 79 police station of the district on Thursday. A team of Special Operation Group (SOG) jawans on a combing mission rounded them up while they were holding a meeting inside the jungle.

According to Malkangiri Superintendent of Police Satish Kumar Gajbhiye, arms and ammunition, including landmines, Maoist literature in Oriya, Hindi and Telugu, i-pods, maps, mobile phones and Rs. 10,000 in cash were seized from them. The i-pod had the photograph of Mr. Gajbhiye, which hinted that these Maoists were making plans to target the SP.

They were forwarded to court on Friday and were sent to jail as their bail plea was rejected.

Identified

Speaking to The Hindu over phone, Mr Gajbhiye said these arrested naxalites were part of the Visakhapatnam division of the Maoist outfit. They had over 40 cases against them in Andhra and ten in Orissa.

The four arrested Maoists were identified as Kumari, 32, Aruna, 40, Jana Padma, 45, and Krishna (22). Jana Padma happened to be a veteran naxal and wife of a top ranking Maoist. Krishna happened to be her son.

Mr. Gajphiye said these four were part of the naxal group that was behind the landmine blast near MV 126 village on July 16 which killed 17 policemen. They were also involved in the attack to capsize a boat carrying Greyhound commandos from Andhra Pradesh in the Chitrakonda reservoir on June 29 which led to death of over 35 persons. Interrogations also revealed that they had taken part in the naxal attack on R. Udaygiri town in Gajapati district and an attack on a forest guest house at Deogarh in Western Orissa.

Meanwhile, naxalites gave a bandh call in Malkangiri district against alleged arrest of innocent persons by the police.

The bandh call had its impact on vehicular traffic in Kalimela, Motu and MV 79 areas of the district.

It may be noted that Mr. Gajbhiye has been transferred from this naxal-infested district. He will be replaced by Satyabrata Bhoi, who had earlier served in the district as Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO).

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