Bijapur, Jun 22 (PTI) Four Naxalites and a Maoist sympathiser were arrested from different places in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Sunday, police said.

While three militia cadres were apprehended from the Gangaloor station area, another Maoist and a supporter were arrested from Jangla and Madded police station limits, respectively, an official said.

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Police nabbed Kamalu alias Kalmu (30), Kosa Bhogam (45) and Kosa Tamo (45) and recovered cordex wire, electric wire and batteries from their possession, he said.

The official said the trio were allegedly involved in planting an improvised explosive device (IED) on Mutvendi dirt track in July last year. A boy had lost his leg when the device exploded on July 27 last year.

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Another cadre, identified as Sonadhar Podiyam (40), was apprehended with a tiffin bomb and switch pencil battery, while Sanjay Marpalli (36), a Maoist supporter and resident of Dampaya village in the Madded area, was held along with explosive materials, among other items, he said.

The official said that joint teams of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and local police were involved in the arrests.

In a separate operation, security forces detected two IEDs planted by Naxalites along a river on the Ponjer-Peddakorma village road on Sunday, the official said.

The IEDs, weighing 5 kg each, were found when a joint team of DRG and Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) was out on a demining exercise in the area, he said.

The BDS neutralised the bombs were neutralised, averting a major tragedy, the official said.

Naxalites often plant explosives on the route to target security forces during anti-Naxal operations in the Bastar division, he said.

Earlier this month, Additional Superintendent of Police Akash Rao Girepunje lost his life when an IED planted by Maoists exploded in Sukma.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)