Six women Maoists held for Chhattisgarh ambush

RAIPUR - Seven Maoist guerrillas, including six women, were arrested with arms and ammunition in Chhattisgarh Wednesday for killing five security personnel in an ambush last month, police said.

The seven, amongst the dozens of Maoists wanted for the Aug 29 killing of five security personnel in Kanker, were arrested from a forest in the district that is part of the 40,000 sq km Bastar region along with Dantewada, Bijapur, Bastar and Narayanpur districts.

“We had been tracking the Maoists for several days and finally they were trapped today. Six of the seven Maoists apprehended were females and had been involved in an ambush on a joint patrolling party in Kanker district’s Bhuski village Aug 29, in which five jawans were martyred,” Ajay Yadav, Kanker district superintendent of police, told IANS over phone.

The arrested rebels also included minors. Six guns and some detonators were recovered from them.

Lakhan Patle, sub-divisional officer of police (SDOP) of Bhanupratappur where the Maoists were arrested, said a few of the arrested were minors.

“We have got vital leads from the arrested rebels about other Maoists who were involved in Aug 29 attack. More Maoists will be arrested soon,” said Patle.

About 100 Maoists had ambushed a patrol drawn from the Border Security Force (BSF), district force (DF) and special police officers (SPOs) in Bhuski village in Kanker district, 250 km from here.

Amongst the five killed were three BSF troopers.