Three Chhattisgarh-based alleged militia members of the CPI (Maoist) were apprehended by the police during an area domination exercise near Jangalapalli village on the border mandal of Charla of Bhadrachalam Agency on Tuesday night.
A cache of explosive material, including 20 gelatin sticks, 10 detonators, a 20-metre wire bundle was recovered from their possession, police said.
With the arrest of the trio, the police claimed to have thwarted an alleged plot by the rebels to plant explosive material to kill police personnel during the latter’s combing operations in the Agency areas.
The police identified the arrested persons as Sodi Dudva, 35, Kaluma Joga, 35, and Podium Bandi, 30, all hailing from Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district.
The arrests came at a time when the police along with the CRPF personnel intensified combing and area domination operations in the Left-wing extremism (LWE) affected border areas ahead of next month's Lok Sabha elections.