Patna: Gaya police foiled an attempt by Maoists to blow up a vehicle carrying security forces after the seizure of two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from Imamganj region on Wednesday.

The two IEDs, each weighing 10kg, were planted under the road leading to Bodhia hills under the jurisdiction of Salaiya police station. The explosives were detected with the help of a sniffer dog, which was part of the raiding team. An official with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Surendra Das said the Maoists had planted the explosives near Tilakdih village to target the security personnel. CRPF's assistant commandant Sujeet Kumar said the seized explosives were of high quality and enough to cause extensive damage to the police patrol vehicle. The assistant commandant said the search operation was carried out in the nearby villages as a precautionary measure. "Both the IEDs were defused by the personnel of the bomb disposal squad in the presence of senior officials of the central paramilitary force," he told reporters in Gaya.

In Munger, the police unearthed two illegal mini-gun factories and seized three automatic pistols and five magazines during an overnight operation on Thursday. Two persons identified as Manoj Yadav and Mohammad Israr, were also nabbed in this connection.

Munger superintendent of police Ashish Bharti said acting on a tip off a police team conducted a raid at the house of Mohammad Rabbani at Bakarganj village and seized two automatic country-made pistols. Rabbani was wanted in connection with an arms deal case lodged with Batganj police station in Bengal.

He said Mohammad Israr and Manoj Yadav were arrested when they had gone to purchase weapons from Rabbani. The police later nabbed Rabbani from his hideout and produced him in the court, which remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Begusarai police arrested four Maoists, who were evading arrest in several cases related to attack on security forces in the district.