Gaya, Nov. 2: In a crackdown against Maoists, Gaya police today nabbed 11 suspected rebels.

The arrests were made from Rajpur Bhojpur village under Atri police station area of the district early in the morning today.

One of those arrested is suspected to be a zonal commander and one was said to be involved in Jehanabad jail break incident.

The nabbed men have been identified as M. Chaudhary, Vijay Yadav, D.K. Yadav, Manoj, Rishikesh, Bablu Shankar, Nagendra, Birju Ram, Ramashray Prasad and Lallu, alias Sanjay.

Confirming the arrests, Gaya superintendent of police Sushil Khopde said that two country-made weapons, 13 live cartridges and two motorcycles were also recovered during raids. At least three of the 11 caught are believed to be hard-core members of the organisation, said Khopde.

The men were apparently planning an operation when the police party laid a siege around the village and overpowered them after receiving a tip-off. According to reports reaching the headquarters, the men were taken by surprise, as police movement in the area remained undetected till the last moment, giving them no chance to flee when they were finally caught.

In the past couple of weeks, the Maoists made successful retreats after exchanging heavy fire with police in Barachatti police station area of the district at least twice.

The arrested rebels are being interrogated by the police as well as intelligence agency officials. Khopde refused to divulge further details.