Police bust Maoist hideout in Jharkhand

Kharegania (Jharkhand), July 23 (ANI): In a joint operation, police and paramilitary personnel raided a Maoist hideout and seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition from a non-descript village in Jharkhand.

The personnel raided a hideout in Kharegania village and seized the arms and other paraphernalia on Wednesday.

According to the police, the Maoists fled the hideout after opening fire on security forces.

Five rifles, three guns, around 150 cartridges, one pistol, mobile phones, a walkie-talkie set and nine detonators were recovered from the hideout.

The Maoists have recently stepped up attacks against police, officials and civilians away from remote rural areas and closer to towns and cities across India.

Hundreds of Maoists, who are expanding their influence in India, had declared the town of Lalgarh about 170 km from Kolkata, as a "liberated zone" recently before they fled in face of police action.

Maoists, who say they are fighting for the rights of poor farmers and landless labourers, are expanding their influence in east, central and southern India. (ANI)