Maoists have started feeling the heat of central para-military forces (CPMF) ahead of the five-phase Assembly elections.

Over 12 Maoists were nabbed and a huge quantity of explosives was seized during operations in the past 24 hours.

Over 250 CPMF companies have arrived in the state and more troops are likely to reach next week. Personnel of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) have been sent to Maoist-hit districts to cooperate with the state police in the pre-election operations.

In Gaya, security forces on Friday destroyed a Maoist bunker (training camp) during a operation in Baskatwa hilly terrain, adjacent to the Jharkhand border. Six rebels, including a senior leader, were also arrested. Apart from walkie-talkies, improvised explosive devices and illegal arms and ammunition were recovered.

Gaya senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaaj said: "Security forces found a full-fledged hospital being run by the Maoists in the deep forests, which share border with Hazaribagh in Jharkhand. The hospital used to treat rebels injured in encounters with security personnel."

Similar drives are on in the villages under the jurisdiction of Khisersarai police station of the district.

"These terrains are considered influential pockets of rebels. The operations would continue till the elections," said the SSP.

The first phase of Assembly polls in eastern districts of Bihar, a Maoist stronghold, would be an acid test for security agencies.

Bhagalpur, Banka, Jamui, Munger, Lakhisarai, Sheikhpura, Begusarai and Khagaria, where votes would be cast on October 12, are areas dominated by the rebels.

Sources in the special branch of state police, which keep track on the movement of rebels, revealed that the rebels had obtained SIM cards with fake identities to evade the police glare.

A source said: "The special branch had identified several numbers of the rebels and put them on surveillance to keep a track on their plans. But now that they have started using new SIM cards with fake identities, the task has become tougher for the security agencies."

The rebels, added the source, had also tampered with the international mobile station equipment identity (IMEI) number of the handsets they were using so that their movements are not easily tracked.