Alipurduar, Dec. 19: A group of 60 to 70 Maoist militants has entered different parts of the Dooars this year, according to information available with police.

The information was revealed by three Maoist militants who were arrested on Saturday from Manglabari on the India-Bhutan border.

The police have also recovered a large number of leaflets from these three, who are also the first Bhutanese nationals to be arrested for Maoist activity.

Jalpaiguri superintendent of police Rahul Srivastav said: ?During interrogation, they (the rebels) have disclosed that their leaders instructed them to conduct a robbery or blast in Jaigaon on India-Bhutan border. They were told they would be garlanded by senior Maoist leaders, if they succeeded in their mission.?

Srivastav also confirmed that the 98 rounds of live cartridges recovered form Jaldapara on December 4 were to used by the arrested rebels.

?An unconventional road through the bed of the Teesta passes by the spot from where the cartridges were retrieved. This route ends at Manglabari from where the militants were arrested. They have confirmed that the ammunition was meant for them,? he said.

According to the police, two of the three arrested had trained in an area adjacent to Patri Bhutanese refugee camp in Nepal. The other rebel has trained near the refugee camp at Timai.

The court has placed the rebels in police remand for six days.

According to a police official, Debendra Goutam and Dilu Limbu, two frontline Maoist leaders, had instructed the trio to engage in subversive activities in the Jaigaon area.

The official added that around April this year, the Communist Party of Bhutan (Maoist) was formed at a secret meeting in the Jhapa Bhutanese refugee camp in Nepal.

Jhapa is one of the four districts in eastern Nepal. The area is densely forested and considered an ideal haven for militant outfits.

?Towards the middle of this year, a group of 60 to 70 Maoist activists entered the Dooars. They have fragmented into small groups of three or four persons. They are determined to conduct subversive activities. Front-ranking leaders of the NDFB and Ulfa have visited Jhapa area and participated in several meetings with Maoist leaders,? said the police official.