DANTEWADA: DA Fifteen Naxalites, seven of them women, were arrested following an IED blast in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district, police said on Tuesday.

The Naxalites triggered the explosion when the security forces were on a search operation on Sunday, but no one was injured, they said.

The Naxalites were apprehended near Gumalnar village under Geedam police station limits, where a joint team of District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Bastar Fighters, both units of state police, was out on a search operation on Sunday, Dantewada Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Unnati Thakur told reporters.

Most of the arrested cadres were active in frontal outfits of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), she said.

The patrolling team had launched the operation on Saturday in the forest of Gumalnar and Mustalnar villages, and around 4.30 pm on Sunday, Naxalites triggered an improvised explosive device (IED) blast to target security personnel, she said.

Security personnel were unharmed in the explosion, she said.

After the blast, some suspects were seen trying to escape from the spot, but security personnel chased and rounded up 15 of them, the official said.

During interrogation, they revealed that they were hiding in a forest to target security personnel, Thakur said.

One IED, electric wire, detonator, a steel tiffin box, Maoist pamphlets and literature, Maoist uniform and items of daily use were recovered from their possession, she said.

The arrested Naxalites were produced in court and were remanded in judicial custody, the official added.