Vehicles set ablaze by Maoists in Aurangabad on Wednesday evening. Picture by Suman

Patna, July 18: Maoists decamped with sophisticated firearms and videotaped the operation after killing three security personnel and two private security guards in Aurangabad district yesterday evening.

The modus operandi of the Reds has also left the top brass of the police flummoxed.

“What is intriguing is that the Maoists were equipped with sophisticated cameras and they captured the almost hour-long operation on video. The rebels would show the clip to new recruits as to how the cops surrendered their weapons,” additional director-general (ADG), law and order, S.K. Bhardwaj said.

A team of senior police officials comprising director-general of police (DGP) Abhayanand and Bhardwaj visited the spot in the small hours of Thursday. They came to know that the Maoists had arrived at the base camp of a road construction company — Maheshwar Brothers Limited — posing as employees in four sports utility vehicles (SUVs).

“The security personnel were caught unawares, as around 40-50 rebels entered the company’s base camp in four vehicles. By the time the Special Auxiliary Police (SAP) jawans realised that the SUV-borne persons were not employees, the Maoists had surrounded them and started indiscriminate firing,” Bhardwaj said.

The ADG, who is camping in Aurangabad to monitor the operation against the rebels, told The Telegraph that the Maoists adopted the strategy so the security personnel would not have enough time to react. Three SAP jawans, who made an abortive attempt to foil the attack, were killed, he added.

Bhardwaj, who had earlier served as in-charge of the state police’s Special Task Force (STF), said the motive of the Naxalites was to loot firearms. They decamped with 15 self-loading rifles (SLRs), 12 Insas and three AK 47 assault rifles. “This is perhaps the second biggest operation after the Jhajha government railway police (GRP) firearms loot incident in which the Maoists escaped with 45 weapons a few years ago,” he said.

Sources in the police headquarters said the Maoists had taken away 45 weapons, including 27 regular rifles, six SLRs and two AK 47 assault rifles in an attack at the armoury of the GRP on the Jhajha railway station in Jamui district in April 2008. The rebels had also looted 898 rounds of ammunition.

Yesterday night, the Maoists also looted 3,500 live cartridges after killing five persons. The deceased SAP personnel have been identified as Subhash Kumar Singh, Amrit Singh and Paras Nath Mishra. Two private security guards killed have been identified as Shanker Baitha of Palamu and Ranganath Sharma from Aurangabad.

The additional director-general (headquarters), Ravinder Kumar, said the rebels also killed a private bus driver after he refused to stop his vehicle as ordered. The deceased has been identified as Yogendra Yadav, a resident of Karokhat under jurisdiction of Goh police station in Aurangabad.

Ravinder said three SAP jawans — Mangal Singh, Baljeet Singh and Bimal Bhagat — had been admitted to Anugrah Narayan Medical College and Hospital (ANMCH) with serious injuries. Two more personnel, Ram Singh and Niranjan Yadav, were also being treated. He, however, feigned ignorance about the loot.

Ravinder added that 30 SAP jawans had been deployed at a picket adjacent to the base camp of the construction company, which had been awarded the contract to build a 70-km road between Shivganj and Baidrabaad. The picket was set up to provide security to the firm’s employees and the daily wagers engaged in the work.

The wounded SAP jawans informed the senior police officials that the Maoists attacked the camp between 6pm and 6.30pm. According to the trio, the rebels also lobbed hand-grenades to scare away the personnel at the picket.

According to eyewitnesses, the Naxalites had assembled at a tri-junction and blown up a newly constructed bridge before launching the attack on the picket. Sources said the rebels exploded bombs to trigger panic among residents, who had assembled at a nearby market.

A police officer said the demolished picket had been set up about a year ago.