Ranchi police arrested two Maoists, Devendra Kujur and Bhawani Oraon, when they were on way to transport money and supplies to notorious Maoists operating in extremism hit areas of Jharkhand.
In the arrest made from Gonda police station on Wednesday evening, police have recovered Rs 17 lakh from the possession of the nabbed extremists along with Maoist literature, bindoliya (bullet pack), three mobile phones, two backpacks and an inventory of provisions, including dry fruits, snacks, clothes and shoes. A car (JH 01Z 0291) has also been seized from them. The money was extorted form an unidentified contractor of the city, whereas the provisions were gathered from Ranchi, Daltonganj and latehar, and both were to be delivered to Balkeshwar.
"We got information from Special Branch that a consignment of money to be delivered to extremists as levy will arrive in Ranchi. Acting on the tip-off, we set a trap near Rock Garden in Kanke Road and successfully nabbed the Maoists," stated Kuldeep Dwivedi, Senior Superintendent of Police Ranchi during a press conference on Thursday.
He added, "The money was definitely to be used for buying explosives and weapons which would have been used against our security forces. We were able to foil this due to effective coordination between various agencies."
Both arrested extremists have been siphoning levies on behalf of Balkeshwar Oraon, infamous Maoist active in Southern Garhwa, Southern latehar, areas bordering Chhattisgarh as Zonal In-charge. He is known to extort from all infrastructure development and mining operations in these regions.
Balkeshwar also provides logistics support to Dev Kumar Singh, active Central Committee member of Koyal Sankh Zone who is ill-famed in the Budha Pahad area which borders Chhattisgarh. He has been involved in several heinous extremist actions like murdering CRPF soldiers in Chhipaduhar and planting bombs in his abdomen, damaging railway tracks to derail Palamu Express and land mines explosion targeting police party on NH-75.
"They have been active and trusted members in the outfit. This is why they were sent to receive and transport the money. The conditions in which this money was given by the contractor are also to be ascertained," stated the SSP.
Kujur and Oraon are being interrogated for further information about their outfit and plans, he added.