Maoist ‘courier’ held; rice, explosive recovered in Chhattisgarh

Police were told that Jumde received money in advance from Lingesh and Shanti Vijji of the West Bastar Division Committee of the Maoists to supply explosives and other materials

The Chhattisgarh Police have said they have arrested a Maoist “courier” in Left-wing insurgency-hit Bastar’s Bijapur district and recovered explosives and rice meant for Maoists.

Nirmal Jumde was arrested on Tuesday. (HT PHOTO)

In a statement, the police said Nirmal Jumde, a resident of Cherpal village in Bijapur, loaded 100 sacks of rice, each weighing 25 kg, 10 gelatin sticks, eight detonators, 20-metre wire, 100 Maoist pamphlets, banners, and literature in a truck and drove towards a forest. “He stocked the consignment at a hut in Regadgatta village as trucks cannot go beyond it inside the forest,” a police officer said.

The statement said that police were told that Jumde received money in advance from Lingesh and Shanti Vijji of the West Bastar Division Committee of the Maoists to supply explosives and other materials.

“The police nabbed him on Tuesday... after interrogation, he claimed that he had received ₹60,000 from Maoists on May 19 for supplying these materials. He procured the rice from a market in Bijapur town on Monday and collected explosives from another Maoist supplier,” the statement said.