Chhattisgarh: 3 Naxalites, one minor supporter held in Dantewada; 25 kg explosives procured from Hyderabad seized

The accused, all natives of Bijapur district in the state, had allegedly procured the explosives from Hyderabad in neighbouring Telangana and brought them to Bastar to use against security forces.

Dantewada: In a major success, police in Chattisgarh on Wednesday said it has arrested three Naxalites and detained a teenage boy, who was allegedly acting as their supporter and recovered a huge cache of explosives from them in the Dantewada district.

The accused, all natives of Bijapur district in the state, had allegedly procured the explosives from Hyderabad in neighbouring Telangana and brought them to Bastar to use against security forces, an official said. Acting on a tip-off, a joint team of police and Central Reserve Police Force's 231st battalion held the four at a bus stand in Dantewada city on Tuesday, said Vijay Patel, Station House Officer (SHO) Dantewada Kotwali.

Those arrested were identified as Subhash Kadti (21), Manoj Kumar Oyam (18), Ramesh Kumar Oyam (18), he said, adding that the detained boy is aged 15 years. Police have recovered nine explosive sticks - collectively weighing 25 kg, Rs 84,000 cash, commodities of daily use from bags being possessed by them, he said. The nature of explosives is yet to be ascertained, he added.

"During their interrogation, Ramesh, Manoj and Subhash admitted that they are active as members in frontal wings of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) from the last 2-3 years. They told the police that they had procured explosives in Hyderabad and brought them to Dantewada to allegedly use them against security forces," he said.

The three Naxalites were produced in a local court on Wednesday which sent them to jail to judicial custody while the minor boy was sent to a juvenile home, he said. Further investigation into the matter is underway, he added.