Patna, March 14: Rohtas police today recovered over 7,000 detonators, 3,000 gelatin sticks, 2,000kg of ammonium nitrate and a carbine during an anti-Maoist operation - one of the biggest-ever seizures of explosives in the recent past.

A Maoist with a carbine in his possession was also arrested. Identified as Lalan Singh, a resident of Rohtas district, he is said to be a close associate of Ajay Rajbhar, the self-proclaimed zonal commander of the Sone-Ganga-Vindhyachal zone of the banned organisation.

The police operation met with success a day after a Maoist leader identified as Jaglal Gunju, a resident of Jharkhand's Gumla district, was found dead in Gaya . Gunju's death has come as a blow to the organisation, which is fighting for its existence in the bordering areas of Bihar and Jharkhand.

Rohtas superintendent of police Shivdeep Lande said two separate police teams led by additional superintendent (SP) (operations) Shohail and the additional SP of Sasaram, Sushant Kumar Saroj, were formed after receiving information about the movement of armed Maoists in Nawadih police station area.

The two teams were sent to Nawadi and Karwandhia areas, considered to be safe hideouts for the rebels. On basis of information provided by Lalan, the team headed by Saroj carried out raids in Karwandhia and seized the explosives, which, according to experts, were enough to blow up a town like Sasaram, the district headquarters of Rohtas, around 175 km southwest of Patna.

Lande said the explosives were stored to be used against security personnel during the ongoing drive against Naxalites. "Such a huge quantity of explosives has been seized for the first time in the recent past," the SP said, adding that the links of the Maoists with the stone quarrying mafia were being verified.

The seized explosives were purchased from a Nagpur-based explosive factory - Solar Industries India (Pvt) Limited. "The police laid a trap to nab those involved in transportation of explosives but they managed to escape taking advantage of darkness. The operation was carried out in the early morning," he added.

During interrogation, Lalan told the police that he was assigned to collect levy from businessmen, contractors and those involved in running stone quarrying units in Rohtas and Kaimur districts. As he was a quack, he used to provide medical assistance to the Maoists injured during encounters with the police.

He revealed the name of a private nursing home located at Baulia in Rohtas district where the injured rebels were admitted for treatment. He, according to police, disclosed the names of people, who used to pay hefty sum as levy (extortion) to the outfit, an investigating officer said.