5 suspected Maoists arrested in connection with Aurangabad blast

, Oct 21: Five suspected Maoists were arrested in Bihar's Simharua village during a police raid on Monday, said a police officer.

The arrested Maoists were allegedly involved in the killing of seven people in the state's Aurangabad district, police said. Some arms and ammunition were also recovered from their possession, said Aurangabad Superintendent of Police Upendra Sharma.

"Combing operations have been intensified against Maoists in the district," he said.

Seven people, including Sunil Pandey - a former commander of the outlawed Ranvir Sena which is a private army of upper caste landlords - were killed Oct 20 in a landmine blast in Bihar's Aurangabad district.

Pandey was on the Maoists' hit list

Pandey was on the hit list of Maoists and they had earlier threatened to kill him after he was released from jail recently.

The banned CPI-Maoist has already claimed that the people's guerrilla army carried out the strike to avenge the killing of innocent persons by the Ranvir Sena. For the blast, police lodged the first information report (FIR) against seven people who were named and 50 "unknown" people.

IANS