Eight men who supplied explosives, ammunition to Naxals held

Bhopal, Jul 07 (PTI): Eight alleged Naxal `couriers’ were arrested with a cache of ammunition, explosives and other material in Madhya Pradesh’s Balaghat district, a senior police official said on Wednesday.
Acting on a tip-off, four vehicles were intercepted in the Kirnapur forest in the district which borders on Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, said Director General of Police (DGP), Anti-Naxal Operations, Sajid Farid Shapu.
Three pistols, magazines of pistols and AK-47 rifles, eight gelatin rods, an LED torch, air pump, clothes, tents and other material were recovered from them, he said.
The accused had allegedly procured the material from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the DGP said.
The arrested persons were identified as Sanjay Naji and Rohit Shiva Bhai Butani from Mumbai, Ghanshyam Shivlal Anchale and Vijay Jivan Koreti from Gondia (Maharashtra), Shakeel Khan and Wajid Taithari of Kota and Tauseef and Jitendra Agrawal from Jhalawar (both in Rajasthan), he said.
The accused supplied arms and explosives to Maoist groups active in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh through Gondia-based Ghanshyam Anchale and Vijay Koreti, the senior official claimed.
They had supplied material to Naxals seven to eight times in the last one year and received Rs 25 lakh, he said.
During interrogation, the accused also revealed that Naxals had planned a big attack on the police during the `Shaheed Saptah’ (martyrs week) observed by the rebels towards the end of July, the DGP said, adding that further probe was on.