Vijayawada, Nov 18 : The presence of Maoists in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, and surrounding areas created a stir on Tuesday as police arrested 31 Naxals, including some top leaders belonging to Chhattisgarh.

As many as 27 Maoists were arrested from a four-storey building at New Autonagar in Kanuru neighbourhood in Vijayawada.

Nine members of the Central Committee of CPI(Maoists) were suspected to be among those arrested by OCTOPUS and Greyhounds personnel with the help of local police.

Most of the arrested Maoists were women, who had reportedly taken shelter in the guise of labourers.

Security personnel carried out searches following an intelligence alert that Maoists had taken shelter in the city.

Additional Director General (Intelligence) Mahesh Chandra Laddha said a total of 31 Maoists were arrested from Krishna district, Vijayawada and Kakinada

As a large number of migrant workers from other states, including Chhattisgarh, are employed in various factories and timber depots in and around Vijayawada, especially Autonagar, the Maoists had taken shelter so as not to arouse any suspicion.

Large-scale search operations were carried out to arrest the Maoists. It was immediately not clear if the security personnel seized any arms and explosives.

The searches are said to be linked to Tuesdayâ??s operation by security forces in the forests of Alluri Sitharamaraju district in the Andhra-Odisha border area, in which six Maoists, including top commander and CPI(Maoist) Central Committee member Hidma and his wife Raji, were killed.

Facing the heat due to intensified operations by the security forces in Chhattisgarh, several Maoists from that state are believed to have entered Andhra Pradesh

ADG Intelligence said they were keeping a close watch on the movements of Maoists for the last month.

Some Maoists and sympathisers were suspected of having moved to the interior parts of Andhra Pradesh.

Police were questioning the owner of the building in Autonagar and were trying to identify those who had given shelter to Maoists and their sympathisers. An investigation was also conducted on whether they were planning any attacks.

Police officers said such a large number of Maoists were not arrested from any city in Andhra Pradesh, even when Maoist activity was at its peak.

/IANS