Two Naxal supporters were arrested today from dense forests of Chhattisgarh's Balrampur district of Surguja region, which has been an insurgency-free pocket for the past few years.
The supporters of People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI), a breakaway faction of the CPI (Maoist), were rounded up from Jagbadi village forests, a senior police official said.
Those arrested were identified as Baijnath and Ramkeshwar, both aged 19 years, he said.
They were close aides of Bokha, a 'commander' of PLFI, which is trying to expand its group on Chhattisgarh-Jharkhand border, he said.
Security forces had launched a search operation cum area domination exercise in the forests of Shankargarh early this morning.
Meanwhile they spotted a group of suspects trying to escape from the jungles after seeing them, the official said.
Later, the duo were arrested after a chase. However, Bokha managed to flee from the spot, he said.
The interrogation of the arrested duo is on, he added.
Naxal activities were at its peak in Surguja region (northern Chhattisgarh) between 2000 and 2006, which were later brought under control. For past few years no major Naxal movement or activities was reported from the area.
