Centre warns of retaliatory attacks from Maoists

The government has warned of retaliatory attacks from Maoists in Naxal-affected states following the arrest of four Left Wing extremists and seizure of over 2,800 kg of explosives.

On Monday, the Centre has alerted all its security forces operating in the Maoist-affected states to be on vigil as the Naxals could carry out a retaliatory attack on them, official sources said.

The forces have arrested two Maoists leaders from Bokaro, Jharkhand and two in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday. The questioning of the duo held from Bokaro, including Naxal leader Panju Manjhi, led to seizure of 2,800 kg of explosives.

"We are expecting a knee-jerk reaction from the Maoists in the states affected by naxalism following the developments. The security forces operating in these areas have been asked to be on alert," they said.

The security forces armed with modern assault rifles, GPS, satellite phones and assisted by helicopters for aerial survey, have been carrying operations in Jharkhand-West Bengal-Orissa border area.

During a strike on Wednesday, the forces came across a training camp in the forests besides cooked food and utensils for nearly 200 Naxals.

Also seized were a large quantity of medicines and a well laid out water pipeline for the camp with Sintex tanks. Naxal literature and 10 improvised explosive devices were also seized, the sources said.

They said Panju Manjhi, an 'area commander' of the Naxals, was arrested besides 20 other people till date as part of the joint operation.

Sources said four companies (400 personnel) of central forces are in action in each state and are being assisted by the state police.

While the Centre had already moved about 60,000 personnel to Naxal-hit states over the last few months, the operation till now was only intra-state.