Arrested Naxals Were Trying to Build Base in UP, Say Police

Six pistols, 50 cartridges, three cars and 125 detonators are reported to have been recovered from them.

Officials of the UP Anti-Terrorist Squad suspect that the Naxal group arrested on Saturday were probably trying to build a base in UP. Investigations are currently underway.

Ten Naxals from Jharkhand and Bihar were arrested from Hindon Vihar and Sadarpur in Noida. Six pistols, 50 cartridges, three cars, 125 detonators, and two laptops were reportedly seized from them.

They are adept at making bombs and were planning some incident in the Delhi-NCR region. Interrogation is underway. We followed their each move after tip off from a resident and arrested 10 Naxals.

Aseem Arun, Inspector General, UP Anti-Terrorist Squad

Self-styled area commander Pradeep Singh Kharwar, from Bariatu village in Jharkhand's Latehar district, had been hiding in Noida since February 2012 and carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh, he said.

Another prized catch was Ranjit Paswan, a former self-styled area commander of erstwhile People's War Group, who was active in Naxal-hit Sasaram district of Bihar. He was arrested from Chandauli, adjoining Bihar, he said.

Others arrested include Pawan Jharkhand of Madhubani in Bihar, Sachin Kumar of Dankaur in Greater Noida, Krishna Kumar Ram from Sasaram in Bihar, and Suraj, a resident of Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh. Suraj was the group's local contact for conducting operations in the Delhi-NCR area.

A Special Task Force officer said that acting on a tipoff, a raid was conducted on an apartment in Sector 49 Hindon Vihar.

550 live cartridges, an INSAS assault rifle, two other rifles and three self-loading rifle magazines were seized along with a huge quantity of explosives and detonators.

He said it is suspected that the INSAS rifle was looted from a security personnel as the weapon is used by them against the ultras, he said.

INSAS (Indian Small Arms System) is a family of infantry arms consisting of an assault rifle and a light machine gun.

The arrested Naxals were active in eastern UP and adjoining parts of Bihar were trying to make Noida their base. They had rented two flats and posed as property dealers, Arun said.

The IG said the crackdown on the left-wing extremists would continue and more arrests were likely.

(With inputs from PTI)