The police and the CRPF have launched a joint operation to break the financial resources of the Maoists in East Singhbhum district who collect levy from contractors in the area.
The security personnel today arrested two Maoist supporters carrying cash collected from a contractor in the form of levy to hand over to Maoist leader Ranjit Pal alias Rahul, who was the prime accused in the killing of JMM MP Sunil Mahato.
Senior Superintendent of Police Anup T Mathew told reporters that acting on a tip off, Superintendent of Police (rural) Shailendra Kumar Sinha and Commandant 193 Battalion of CRPF, Ashish Kumar, led a search operation in the Ghatshila sub-division this morning and intercepted two persons at Chengoda between Ghatshila and Kadaduba, when they were about to enter the jungles to hand over the levy amount of Rs 2.50 lakh to Rahul.
The subsequent search led the security personnel to recover the cash, one country-made pistol, three live cartridges and Maoist literature, Mathew said adding the security personnel also seized the motorcycle they were travelling on and two mobile phones.
The arrested Maoist supporters were identified as Kalachand Pal and Simanta Pal, both residents of Mahatam village under Ghatshila police station limits, he said.
