Gaya: Police on Saturday arrested four Maoist rebels in Bihar's Gaya district and recovered 200 live cartridges and three cellular phones from them. Acting on a tip off, the police and the Special Task Force (STF) in a joint operation nabbed the four- Ramadha Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Ram Janam and Parshuram - whom the police described being active members of the Moist Communist Centre. "Acting on a tip-off, the Special Task Force (STF) and the police in a joint operation cracked down on exchange of arms between the Maoists and nabbed four of them," said Rajvansh Singh, Deputy Superintendent of Police. The Maoists were caught when they were waiting to deliver the consignment of cartridges, said police. "We had gone there (at the destination to exchange arms), stopped our vehicle, our friends took time to reach the place. We were calling them, but got caught by the police," said one of the arrested Maoists, Umesh Yadav. Bihar is one of the nine States affected by over three-decade-old Maoist revolt. The Government of India recently banned and formally labelled Maoist insurgents a terrorist group, hoping it would give security forces more enforcement powers after the rebels briefly created a "liberated zone" in eastern parts of the country.

     In Purulia (West Bengal), the combined security forces commenced the anti-Naxal operation on Saturday in West Bengal 's Purulia district from Kerua Ghatbera. The combing operations covered the forests adjoining Ayodhya hills under Bagmundi police station, which were considered to be the den of the insurgents, said Rajesh Kumar Yadav, the SP of Purulia. The combined forces had launched anti-naxal operations in Midnapore district about a month ago, which was gradually extended to neighbouring Purulia and Bankura districts and subsequently to Jharkhand.

     In Malda (West Bengal), the police personnel recovered four Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) from two youths in West Bengal 's Malda District. Reportedly, the four IEDs, each 5/8 inches of size and wired with battery were recovered from them on Friday after intercepting a car in which the young men were travelling. The IEDs were capable of blowing a vehicle. Later, the bomb disposal squad defused the explosives from the grounds of the Police Lines Sports Club. "We got four IEDs, apparently it seems to be IED, with remote control facilities. Now, these boys are being subjected to interrogations," said Satyabroto Bhattacharjee, Superintendent of Police. The arrested youngsters led the police to a village named Kalichak near Sujapur, about 10 kilometres from Bangladesh border, to find more possible explosives. Consequently, police recovered four more explosives from Sujapur area and these are also suspected to be IEDs. Identities of the both are yet to be disclosed by the police due to security reasons.
-July 25, 2009