Bijapur (PTI): Four Naxalites, two of them carrying a collective bounty of Rs 9 lakh, were arrested from separate places in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, a police official said on Friday.
Mallesh Kunjam (40), a divisional committee member in Jagargunda area committee of Maoists, was arrested on Thursday from the forests of Polampalli village when a joint team of security personnel was out on a search operation, he said.
Personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the 210th battalion of CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action), an elite unit of CRPF, were involved in the operation, he said.
Multiple cases of murder, attempt to murder, attacks on police, arson, loot, dacoity, and abduction have been registered against Kunjam at Tarrem, Pamed, Usoor, and Awapalli police stations in the district, the official said, adding that he carried a reward of Rs 8 lakh.
In another operation, a police team arrested Anil Veko (32), head of the Janatana Sarkar unit of Maoists, from Darmer village, he said.
He carried a reward of Rs 1 lakh and is accused in several Maoist incidents, including triggering IED (improvised explosive device) blasts and attacks on police teams over the last two years, he said.
In the third action, Vanjam Hunga (35) and Sodhi Nande (33) were apprehended from Polampalli village under Pamed police station limits during an anti-Naxal operation launched by the 228th battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and local police, he said.
“Hunga and Nande were militia members of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) Polampalli Revolutionary People's Committee (RPC). Information provided by the duo led to the recovery of six muzzle-loading guns from the forests of Padalu near Polampalli village,” the official said.
Citing their preliminary probe, he said the two hid the firearms to supply them to the Naxalites.
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Thane (PTI): Forest officials on Sunday captured a leopard that mauled an eight-year-old child to death nearly a month ago in Shahapur of Maharashtra’s Thane district.
The predator walked into one of the cages set up in the area late Saturday night, ending weeks of panic in several villages in the region, an official from the Dolkhamb division of the forest department said.
"The captured leopard will undergo a thorough medical examination before any further decision is taken regarding its relocation or release," he said.
Senior inspector Suresh Gavit from the Kasara police station confirmed the development, stating that the forest department had successfully secured the animal.
Following the news of the capture, a video surfaced on social media showing a large crowd of villagers, including children, cheering and following the vehicle carrying the caged leopard.
The capture comes as a major relief to the area, which had been on edge since April 16, when the big cat killed an eight-year-old boy.
Krishna Bhaga Agiwale, a resident of Kalbhonde in the Kasara range, had ventured into a forest patch near his house to collect wild fruits when the leopard pounced on him, dragged him into the thicket and killed him on the spot.
