Hyderabad, Twenty members of the banned CPI were arrested by police in different places in Mulugu district of Telangana and several arms were seized from them, police said on Saturday.
The Maoists, including one division committee member and five area committee members, were arrested between May 16 and 17 during vehicle checkings, search operations and during patrolling under Venkatapuram, Wazeedu and under Kannaigudem police station limits, Mulugu District Superintendent of Police Shabarish P said in a release.
Police said that after the CRPF and Chhattisgarh police recently launched large-scale search operations in the Karregutta hills along the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border, information was received by Mulugu police that the CPI who had taken shelter in the Karregutta were fleeing from there in small groups to various locations.
To prevent the entry of the Maoists into Mulugu district, police strengthened their surveillance system and apprehended the Maoists, the release said.
The 20 arrested Maoists were involved in several criminal incidents in Telangana and Chhattisgarh by “killing” police and CRPF personnel in ambush and attack on the security personnel besides killing people by branding them as police informers, police said.
Police said they seized weapons, including three 5.56 mm INSAS rifles, four 7.62 mm SLR rifles, one .303 rifle, four 8 mm rifles, two live grenades, besides magazines from the arrested Maoists.
Police further said the Maoists had planted IEDs in the Karregutta forest area, which falls under the jurisdiction of Venkatapuram, Wazeedu, and Peruru police stations of Mulugu district and also under the jurisdiction of Elimidi and Usur police stations of Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh, in order to prevent security forces and others from entering the area and to establish a Maoist guerrilla base.
The Maoists had also issued warnings through a statement on April 8, cautioning Adivasis and others not to enter the Karregutta forest area, the release said.
Security forces on May 14 had declared a major success, saying they had demolished the “invincibility” of the Maoists and killed 31 ultras in and around a treacherous hill along the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border in the biggest ever coordinated operation carried out by them to eliminate the menace by next March.
The 21-day-long operation code named ‘Black forest’ that began on April 21 along the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border ended on May 11, leading to the killing of 31 Maoists, including 16 women, seizure of 450 IEDs, about two tonne of explosives, a number of rifles among others and ammunition, they had said.
Eighteen security forces personnel were injured in this operation.
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