JOIN USTen Maoists were arrested in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Bijapur district, police said on Saturday.
The arrests were made during search operations launched by security forces in the jungles of Bijapur in view of a bandh call given by Maoists, Bijapur Superintendent of Police Mohit Garg said.
Separate teams of the District Reserve Guard (DRG), Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) and District Force (DF) were involved in these operations, which were underway since Friday, he said.
The Maoists had called for a bandh on Friday to protest against an April 22 encounter in Gadhchiroli in Maharashtra, in which 39 ultras, including senior operatives, were gunned down by security forces.
On Saturday, six Maoists were arrested by a squad of DRG and DF when it was cordoning off jungles of Loded, Dhangol and Dampaya villages under the Madded police station area, he said.
Three others were held from Polampalli forest, under Basaguda police station limits, by a team of the CoBRA's 204th battalion and DF, Garg said.
The official said those arrested in Madded were identified as Pinnapalli Veera (45), Gaureya Dubba (59), Dubba Shankar (28), Dubba Kanhaiya (40), Kudiyam Ramesh (27) and Shankar Gote (22).
The Maoists arrested from Basaguda have been identified as Sodhi Raju (26), Madkam Pandu (24) and Kamlu Bheema (45), he said.
Another cadre, Aaytu Madvi (22), was arrested from Darbha village under Kutru police station by the local police, he said.
All those arrested were purportedly involved in attacks on police parties, attempt to murder, loot and other offences, he said.