KOLKATA, India – Mohan Vishwakarma, an alleged Maoist technical specialist thought to have helped procure grenade and rocket launcher components for the outlawed insurgents, is under arrest. He was detained by the Special Task Force (STF) of the Kolkata Police on Thursday (July 26th).

Vishwakarma, 60, is said to have belonged to the Maoists' Central Technical Committee and Technical Research and Arms Manufacturing unit. A second alleged member, Arjun Gunja, was arrested later in the day, the Kolkata-based Telegraph reported.

Questioning has already produced results, investigators say.

"We have learnt about a network of Maoists and their sympathisers that is arranging for funds to procure spare parts of grenades and rocket-launchers in and around Kolkata and supplying them to rebel dens in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh,” the Telegraph quoted Rajeev Mishra, the STF joint commissioner of police, as saying.

The Indian Express, meanwhile, quoted STF sources as saying Vishwakarma provided information under questioning which led to the discovery of a workshop in the Baranagar area. Police recovered improvised hand grenades and assorted parts, the paper said.