Police in Chhattisgarh said on Friday they have arrested seven people, including three construction contractors, for helping Maoists for the last two years.
Inspector general of police (Bastar range ) Sundarraj P said two men, identified as Tapas Palit and Dayashankar Mishra were arrested last month and five others were held recently by Kanker Police.
Sundarraj said police had arrested contractor Palit on March 24 while he was allegedly transporting a huge consignment of shoes, fabrics and walkie-talkie sets, meant for Maoists in his SUV from Siksod police station area of Kanker district.
“During interrogation, he revealed about the Maoist couriers’ network which was supplying various materials and cash to Maoists from the past two years in the north Bastar,” the senior police official said.
Mishra, who was associated with Palit, was later arrested from Rajandgaon district, he said.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Kanker Police led by additional superintendent of police Kirtan Rathore was constituted for an extensive probe into the matter.
The SIT recently arrested five more people—Rajnandgaon-based contractors Ajay Jain and Komal Prasad Verma, Rohit Nag of Koyalibeda in Kanker, Sushil Sharma of Uttar Pradesh and Suresh Sharnagat of Madhya Pradesh in this connection.
As per the preliminary investigation, two contractors—Nishant Jain of Bilaspur and Varun Jain of Rajnandgaon, who run Landmark Engineer Company and Landmark Royal Engineer Company respectively—were allotted road construction works under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) in Antagarh, Amabeda, Siksod, Koyalibeda and other Maoist-affected areas of Kanker district by the concerned government department, the IG said.
The two firms then authorised to carry out the construction works to Ajay Jain, Komal Prasad Verma and Palit, who are said to be partners in a company which deal in construction work, Sundarraj said.
The three men allegedly contacted the Maoists and had been supplying shoes, uniforms, walkie-talkie sets and other materials along with cash to the tune of lakhs of rupees to the rebel since the last two years, he said adding that the remaining arrested persons are their accomplices.
Two cars and 10 mobile phones were also seized from the possession of the accused, Sundarraj said. The involvement of some other people in the offence is being probed, he added.