NEW DELHI/RANCHI - Delhi Police Commissioner YS Dadwal has said that police nabbed a trader in New Delhi following a seizure of mobile phones and communication equipment in Jharkhand.

Praveen Kumar Sharma, who was arrested on Tuesday, was produced before a local court on Wednesday.

“His name is Praveen Kumar Sharma. His role was that some illegal equipment for operational use were provided to him by some other person for the Naxalites,” said Dadwal.

Dadwal said Sharma, who acted as a conduit for the Maoists, was detained on a tip off from Jharkhand police after they seized an air cargo in Ranchi on Tuesday.

The seizure includes walkie-talkies, radio sets, micro-tape recorders and signal receivers.

Dadwal said that Sharma would be handed over to the Jharkhand police for further probe.

“We have detained him and he is wanted by the Jharkhand police. They would be interrogating him,” said Dadwal.

At least 36 policemen were ambushed by Maoists in Chhattisgarh on Sunday.

The Maoists have recently stepped up attacks against police, officials and civilians away from remote rural areas and closer to towns and cities across India.

Hundreds of Maoists, who are expanding their influence in India, had declared the town of Lalgarh about 170 km from Kolkata, as a “liberated zone” recently before they fled in face of police action.

Maoists, who say they are fighting for the rights of poor farmers and landless labourers, are expanding their influence in east, central and southern India. (ANI)