4 Naxals held in Chhattisgarh

Raipur, Aug 29: Four Naxals, two of them allegedly involved in the recent attack on the vehicle of a Station House Officer (SHO), were arrested today from separate places of Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Bastar division, police said.

While three ultras were nabbed by a joint team of security forces from Sukma district, another was held from Kondagaon district, they said.

The composite squad of CRPF, Special Task Force and District Reserve Group (DRG) apprehended the ultras Madkam Deva (33), Madvi Ganga (36) and Muchaki Kosa (39) while carrying out a search operation in south Sukma, Additional Superintendent of Police Jitendra Shukla said.

Of them, Deva and Kosa, natives of Errabor Police Station area, were allegedly involved in the attack on the vehicle of the SHO of Konta Police Station in Sukma on August 5, he said.

SHO Eman Sahu and four other policemen were travelling in an SUV towards Konta from Sukma when armed rebels opened fire on them near Manikonta village. However, none of them were hurt in the incident.

Ganga was active as the head of Dandakaranya Adivasi Kisan Mazdoor Sangthan (DAKMS)- a frontal outfit of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), in the region whereas Deva was a member of this outfit, the ASP said, adding Kosa was wanted in Maoist-related incidents, including attacks on police party and abduction.

In a separate incident, a Janmilitia cadre Pilaji (35) was apprehended from Tumdiwal village forests under Mardapal Police Station limits of Kondagaon by a joint team of DRG and local police, officials said.

A hardcore member of Bedma Janmilitia group, Pilaji was allegedly involved in several Naxal incidents in the region, police said.

PTI