Three Maoists held in Orissa

BHUBANESWAR - Three Maoists, including an area commander of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist, were arrested Monday from a forested area of Orissa’s Keonjhar district, officials said.

The rebels were arrested from the Daitari mining area during a combing operation by the police, district Superintendent of Police A.K. Singh told IANS.

Those arrested were Badal alias Birsha, 25, Laxman Majhi, 45, and Babaji alias Karuna, 35, he said.

Badal, an area commander of the CPI-Maoist, was involved in at least a dozen crimes including an attack on a police station, abduction of a police officer, and a murder, he said.

The other two were also involved in murder cases, he said. The district headquarters of Keonjhar is 235 km from state capital Bhubaneswar.