Nagpur,  In a big breakthrough, police in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli have arrested two dreaded Maoists with a combined reward of Rs 10 lakh on their heads, a top official said here on Saturday.

The two are Krishna Shyamlal Narote, 24, of Sawargaon with a bounty of Rs 8 lakh and Surya Ghasen Narote, 22, carrying a reward of Rs 2 lakh, said Superintendent of Police Ankit Goyal.

"As per preliminary interrogation, Krishna Narote was sent as part of an advance recce team to 'reorganise' the Dalams (militant groups) which were eliminated in the Mardintola encounter of 2021," he said.

Krishna Narote was recruited in October 2015 when he was barely 17 with the Tipagad LOS and worked as a bodyguard of senior Divisional Committee Member (DVCM) Joganna till 2018 and quickly grew up the ranks by 2020 when the state government announced the booty for his capture, while Surya Narote is a Jan Militia Member.

Both Narotes were involved in various serious crimes like murder, arson, firing, etc.

Goyal said that the timely arrests have dealt a serious setback to their nefarious intentions to revive the destroyed Dalams in the region and further probe is on into their activities.