Five Naxalites held in Chhattisgarh

Bijapur, Mar 12 (PTI) Police on Wednesday arrested five Naxalites, one of them carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head, in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, officials said.

Narayan Bhandari, Dharma Kaka, Neela Kaka, Kista Dhruva and Rambabu Punem were apprehended by the security personnel near a forest in Marudbaka village under the Usur police station limits during an anti-Naxal operation, an official said.

The local police, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and its elite Commando Battalion of Resolute Action (CoBRA) units were involved in the operation launched in the area on Monday, he said.

Bhandari, who carried a bounty of Rs 1 lakh, was the Marudbaka DAKMS (Dandakaranya Adivasi Kisan Majdoor Sangathan) head of the outlawed Maoist outfit, while four others were its members, he said.

The security force seized Maoist pamphlets and batteries from them, the official said, adding that a local court sent them to jail. PTI COR NP