Six Maoists held in Chhattisgarh

RAIPUR - Six Maoists were arrested Saturday after the security forces raided their forest hideout in Chhattisgarh’s restive Bastar region, police said.

“A squad of District Force (DF) and the Border Security Force (BSF) stormed a jungle base of the rebels on specific inputs and picked up six rebels. Several of their colleagues escaped and slipped away into nearby hilly area,” Ajay Yadav, superintendent of police, told IANS over phone.

Kanker along with Bijapur, Bastar, Narayanpur and Dantewada districts form the Bastar region considered a Maoist hotbed.

Police say nearly 2,000 people have been killed in Maoist violence in the state since its creation in November 2000. The casualties include nearly 1,000 civilians and 650 policemen.