nTwo Naxals were arrested and a huge cache of explosives and firearms were recovered following a gun-battle between the security forces and the Maoist rebels in Dantewada district on Monday, police said.
In a separate incident, 13 bombs were recovered by the security forces during a joint search operation in neighbouring Bastar district on Monday.
The gunfight took place around 11 am in the forested hill near Pallewaya village under Barsoor police station limits when a joint team of the security forces was out on an anti-Naxal operation, Dantewada superintendent of police Abshishek Pallava said.
Personnel belonging to District Reserve Guard’s (DRG), women wing ‘Dantewhwari Ladake’ and the local police were involved in the operation, the police chief said.
When the patrolling team was advancing through the forest of Pallewaya, located around 400 km away from capital Raipur, and an exchange of fire broke out between the two sides, he said.
The gun-battle lasted for about half-an-hour following which the Maoist rebels began to escape during which, two of them were nabbed, Pallava said.
“During search of the spot, four country-made muzzle loading guns, a 5kg IED, 3 pipe bombs, 9 arrow bombs and a huge quantity of commodities of daily use were recovered from the spot,” he said.
The arrested rebels were identified as Chaitram Veko (27), head of the DAKMS (Dandakaranya Adivasi Kisan Majdoor Sangthan), and Sudram Veko (35), janmilitia commander, the district police chief said adding that they were carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh each on their heads.
In another incident, a combine squad of the CRPF’s 195th battalion and the district force recovered 13 bombs, including 6 pressure cooker IEDs, 3 arrow bombs, one directional pipe bomb and one country-made mortar bomb, planted by the Maoist rebels from the forest near Ghotia village under Mardoom police station area, a police official said.