Seven Maoists arrested in Jharkhand's Latehar district

Seven Maoists, allegedly involved in the killing of four security personnel last November, were arrested here on Monday, police said.

The arrested Maoists -- identified as Baijnath Ganju, Kuwanr Ganju, Rajesh Ganju, Sunil Ganju, Faguna Ganju, Sanjay Ganju and Naresh Ganju - have confessed to have carried out the attack on November 22, days ahead of the first phase of Jharkhand assembly elections, Deputy Inspector General of Police A V Homkar said.

Self-styled sub-zonal commander of CPI(Maoist), Ravindra Ganju, was also present during the attack, he said.

Armed naxalites had opened fire on a patrol van near Lukiatand village in Chandwa police station area of Latehar, killing four policemen, including an assistant sub-inspector.

A joint team of Latehar and Lohardaga police officers, acting on a tip-off, launched an operation and nabbed the seven Maoists earlier in the day, Homkar said.

The Maoists had visited the Chandwa area of the district to extort money from a local contractor, he said.

Among other things, five lakh rupees in cash, forty rounds of bullets, which were stolen from the police officers on the day of the attack, three aadhaar cards, five mobile handsets and three motorbikes were seized from their possession, he added.