Arms factory bust was body blow to naxals

Bhopal, Jan 16 (UNI) The Madhya Pradesh Police today claimed that the busting of a weapons factory here on the intervening night of January 10-11 constituted a body blow to the naxals' Technical Wing.

''The five accused arrested in this connection are hardcore extremists. Literature and other material seized indicates, that besides arms manufacture, research was also conducted,'' Additional Director-General (Intelligence) S K Raut told journalists here.

The factory was being managed for about five years.

''Besides central intelligence agencies' sleuths, special police teams of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat are interrogating the militants. Immediate action is being taken on details obtained and that led to the busting of a similar unit at Rourkela,'' the officer explained.

The accused Rajlakshmi, Madhukumar, Srinivas, Deepak and Krishnan have been remanded to police custody until January 25. The names and addresses divulged by them are being confirmed by the police in Andhra Pradesh and other states.

''Just like the ultras' Political Wing, the Technical Wing is active. Besides developing weapons, it renders assistance in developing the Revolutionary Compact Zone, a proposed corridor from Nepal to Chennai,'' Mr Raut said.

The inspectors-general of Madhya Pradesh's police ranges have been directed to specially monitor industrial areas.

When asked how the police did not even get a whiff of the factory for so long, Deputy Inspector-General (Bhopal Range) Anuradha Shankar Singh stoutly denied that it was a failure on part of the police's intelligence network.

''The factory was being run in an industrial area and the accused lived and behaved like a family thereby not arousing suspicion,'' she said.

Among those present was Superintendent of Police Anant Kumar Singh.

UNI