Landmine blast: Two arrested for passing info to Maoists

Two persons were arrested today in connection with the killing of eight security personnel in a landmine blast triggered by Maoists here earlier this week.

Mukesh Mahto and Mohammad Basarat Hussain have been arrested from Nabinagar police station area for allegedly passing information about police patrol to the Maoists which helped them in enacting the crime, Superintendent of Police Upendra Kumar Sharma told reporters.

While Mahto is a native of Raghunathganj village, Hussain is a resident of Mahsu village, both located in a radius of one km from the site of the blast, the SP said.

The duo had provided information to the ultras about return of police patrol to Tandwa police station after a meeting with Circle Inspector in Nabinagar when they were attacked on the way, the SP said.

Hussain's wife has served as mukhiya of the village in the past.

Eight security personnel, including officer in-charge (OC) of Tandwa police station Ajay Kumar were killed in a landmine blast triggered by Maoists on December 3 near Chandragarh More (circle) on the Tandwa-Nabinagar road. The jeep they were travelling was blown off in the blast.

Besides the OC, the dead included 5 jawans of SAP (Special Auxiliary Police), one Bihar Military police jawan and a home guard driver.

The Bihar police along with CRPF has launched an operation against the extremists in the district bordering Palamu of Jharkhand.