Raipur, March 6 (IANS) Five Maoist guerrillas, for whose capture the police had announced bounties, were arrested in Chhattisgarh Saturday.

The insurgents were held in a forest in Kanker district's Rowghat region, some 280 km from here.

Kanker, Bijapur, Narayanpur, Bastar and Dantewada form the 40,000 sq km restive Bastar region known as a Maoist haven since the late 1980s.

Officials at the police headquarters in Raipur said the arrests were made by a police search team that spotted the rebels and forced them to surrender.

Police said there were 17 arrest warrants pending against Lakhmu, one of the five arrested ultras, for his alleged involvement in several attacks in Bastar region.