Chatra (Jharkhand), March 18 Five members of the banned Maoist group, the Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TSPC), were arrested on Wednesday along with weapons and ammunition in the Chatra district of Jharkhand, police said.
A "area commander" of the PLFI, who was carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh, also surrendered in Khunti, police said.
Both the TSPC and the People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI) are splinter groups of the CPI(Maoist).
The suspects were apprehended after Chatra Superintendent of Police (SP) Sumit Agarwal received information that some members of the TSPC had gathered near the Benti ground, under the jurisdiction of the Piparwar police station, to carry out some subversive activities, a police officer said.
Tandwa SDPO Prabhat Ranjan Barwar said, "Six mobile phones, a locally made pistol, two cartridges, 10 pamphlets, and a stolen motorcycle were recovered from them."
During interrogation, it has come to light that the accused were involved in a firing incident on March 11, the SDPO said.
Police have also received detailed information about other accused persons, against whom raids are being conducted.
In a related incident, the PLFI "area commander" Habil Munda surrendered before Khunti Deputy Commissioner Ronita R and Superintendent of Police Khunti, Manish Toppo.
Habil Munda, a resident of Bamhani village under the Murhu police station area, has over 20 cases related to rebel activities lodged against him in different police stations of the Khunti district.
The Deputy Commissioner presented a cheque of Rs 1 lakh, the reward amount, to Habil in the presence of his wife and his five-month-old son.
SP Manish Toppo told reporters that at the time of surrender, Habil handed over to the police a 9mm pistol, a 7.65 mm pistol, a locally made handgun, and 13 cartridges, besides two walkie-talkie sets.
"He surrendered, taking advantage of the new rehabilitation and surrender policy of the Jharkhand government and the continuous pressure exerted by security forces against extremist groups," said Toppo.