Two Maoists surrender, arms recovered in Jharkhand

Two Maoists, including a zonal commander carrying a reward of Rs 15 lakh, surrendered here to the Jharkhand Police on Thursday, an official said.

Based on the militants' inputs, a huge cache of arms was recovered in a joint operation by the state police and paramilitary personnel in Lohardaga district, he added.

Nakul Yadav, a zonal commander of Communist Party of India (Maoist), surrendered along with his aide Madan Yadav before Additional Director General of Police (Operations) R.K. Mallik and Ranchi range Deputy Inspector General A.B. Homkar in the state capital.

Nakul Yadav was wanted in more than 70 cases related to Maoist activities, including the killing of policemen. He was active in the border areas of Bihar and Chhattisgarh.

The zonal commander is also accused of forcibly inducting children in the CPI-Maoist group.

However, he denied the charge, and said: "Children are joining our organisation voluntarily."

Based on his information, the joint operation of the Central Reserve Police Force and the state police was conducted in the jungles of Lohardaga district.

The police seized 13 rifles, including SLRs and AK-47s, machine guns and 3,000 cartridges.

The police also seized army-style fatigues and Maoist literature.

The operation comes close on the heels of the April 24 ambush in Sukma in which 25 security personnel were killed.

Police sources said the joint operations, based on the inputs of the surrendered Maoists, were still underway in two districts of the state.

--IANS

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