By IANS
Gondia (Maharashtra) : Two surrendered Maoists in Maharashtra decamped with a couple of AK-47 guns and ammunitions from a heavily guarded police sub-divisional office, police sources said Sunday.
The incident occurred at Deoli police sub-divisional office in east Vidarbha Saturday night when Maoists Arjun and Korcha escaped on a police motorcycle carrying two guns, a hand-grenade and seven magazines.
The Maoists had surrendered to the police last year and were supposedly under constant police surveillance, sources said.
The incident created embarrassment for the police top brass as Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh was also visiting the district Sunday.
Deshmukh told reporters after attending a farmers’ rally at Rajegaon-Bagoli near here that the incident would be thoroughly investigated and those found guilty of laxity in surveillance would be dealt with sternly.
While no police officer was immediately available to give details of the escape, sources told IANS that the surrendered Maoists were working as police informants and, having won the confidence of the police rank and file, had access to all parts of the police office.
The incident comes barely days after new state Director General of Police A.N. Roy’s tour of the Maoist-affected area comprising Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli district.
Rounding off the tour Thursday, Roy told reporters at Gadchiroli that the Anti-Naxal Operations (ANO) set-up in the region was fully equipped and in a state of high alert.