Jharkhand: 2 Naxals, including 'sub-zonal commander' with Rs 5 lakh bounty on head, arrested

Two Naxals, including a self-styled 'sub-zonal commander' carrying a bounty of Rs 5 lakh on his head, have been arrested in Jharkhand's Latehar district, a senior police officer said on Saturday.

The arrested red rebels have been identified as Shiva Narayan Singh alias Shiva, a 'sub-zonal commander' of the banned outfit Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad (JJMP), a splinter group of the CPI(Maoist), and Sakaldeep Oraon, an 'area commander' of the same outfit, he said.

''Acting on a tip-off, a police team arrested Shiva near Dhankara More on Friday, and based on inputs provided by him, Oraon was nabbed from his house in Semariatand,'' Latehar Superintendent of Police Kumar Gaurav said.

He said 24 criminal cases were pending against Shiva in Latehar, Chatra and Ranchi districts.

The developments come in the backdrop of 27 Maoists, including several senior commanders, surrendering before the police on May 21.

The surrendered cadres, owing allegiance to the last active politburo member of the CPI(Maoist), Misir Besra, who carries a bounty of Rs 1 crore on his head, included 25 members of the banned CPI(Maoist) outfit and two members of the JJMP.

Among the surrendered Maoists, seven were 'sub-zonal commanders', including Sagen Aangariya alias Dokol (50), wanted in 123 cases; Gadi Munda alias Gulshan (34), wanted in 48 cases, and Nagendra Munda alias Prabhant Munda (50), who was wanted in 38 criminal cases.

Six 'area commanders' also laid down arms. Of the seven, five carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh each.

Based on information provided by the surrendered Maoists, security forces also seized a large quantity of arms and ammunition, including five INSAS and nine SLR rifles, and 2,987 cartridges.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)