Five Naxals Arrested In Jharkhand, US-Made M1 Rifle Among Firearms Seized

Five members of the banned Naxal outfit Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TSPC), including two self-styled sub-zonal commanders, have been nabbed in Jharkhand's Chatra district, police said on Saturday.

Several firearms, including a US-made rifle, cartridges and pamphlets of the organisation, were seized from their possession, a police officer said.

Acting on a tip-off about the presence of 10 rebels of the banned outfit in Sidalu-Satpahari hill, planning to carry out a major operation, police conducted a raid in the area and nabbed five Naxals on Friday, Chatra Superintendent of Police (SP) Rakesh Ranjan told reporters.

The arrested rebels include TSPC's sub-zonal commanders Prabhat alias Prem Kumar Ganjhu, wanted in 14 cases, and Vishu Ganjhu alias Ashok Ganjhu, wanted in 11 different cases, besides three other members, identified as Arun Prajapati, Naresh Kumar Bhokta and Jitendra Kumar Rajak. 

An AK-56 rifle, a semi-automatic SLR rifle, a US-made M1 rifle, a .315 bolt rifle, two country-made pistols, 275 cartridges and 80 pamphlets of the organisation were seized from them, according to a police communiqué. 

Meanwhile, an alleged CPI (Maoist) supporter, identified as Nehru Munda, was arrested from Marwa village in Kurumgarh police station area of Gumla district on Saturday. 

In Latehar, nine cylinder bombs were unearthed from Latu forest during a search operation, police said.