Raipur:
Two wanted Naxalites were arrested in separate incidents in Chhattisgarh even as normal life was affected in Bastar region in the light of "Martyrs Week" being observed by ultras, police said on Wednesday.
Vishnu Gupta (32) was apprehended from his native Banapatti village under Ramanujganj police station limits of Balrampur district last night," Balrampur SP GS Darro told agencies.
Gupta, a member of banned Tritiya Prastuti Committee, the frontal organisation of Maoists, was active in the region from the past several years, the SP said.
He was allegedly involved in extorting money from contractors, particularly those engaged in collection of tendu leaves, on the behalf of ultras, Darro said.
The SP said that police were looking for Gupta for weeks and arrested him on a tip-off that he was coming to collect money from some local contractors.
In another incident, a Naxalite, identified as Pondi Badde (32), allegedly involved in many incidents of loot and arson, was arrested during a search operation in Maoist-hit Narayanpur district by a joint party of CRPF and district police, a senior police officer said.
Badde was nabbed by a joint contingent of district force and CRPF from forests of Munjmeta village under Narayanpur police station limits today," DSP N K Sahu said.
Outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) has been observing the "Martyrs' Week" in Bastar stronghold since July 28.
Meanwhile, vehicular traffic at many places in Bastar region came to a trickle inconveniencing people.
Since the railways too have decided against running the train service between Vishakhapatnam and Kirandul beyond Jagdalpur, passengers were forced to travel by bus from Jagdalpur to Kirandul.
Paramilitary forces have intensified patrolling in the Naxal-affected region in the wake of the martyrs' Week in anticipation of violence by rebels.
