Police in Jharkhand are waiting for official confirmation from Gujarat anti-terrorist squad (ATS) to take on remand three most-wanted Maoists who were nabbed from tribal-dominated districts of Tapi and Mahisagar on Friday night.

“We are awaiting an official confirmation from the Gujarat ATS team before we send our team to bring the three accused on police remand. All the three were wanted in several cases in Khunti,” Khunti SP Ashutosh Shekhar said on Sunday.

The three rebels also have cases registered against them in West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan districts.

Jharkhand police sources said the arrested trio had been identified as Saamu Oreya and Birsa Oreya (both brothers) and activist Babita Kachhap, all from Khunti district.

“The three alleged rebels were involved in inciting tribals for 2018 Pathalgadi rebellion in Khunti and were also trying to incite tribals in Gujarat against the state government,” said a senior official in Jharkhand special branch.

Pathalgadi, a tribal custom of putting up stone plaques, was tweaked by many villages in Jharkhand in 2017-18 to assert their rights of self-rule. It was also seen as a protest against the then Raghubar Das-led BJP government’s efforts to tweak the land tenancy act.

While Saamu, 20, and Birsa Oreya, 28, were nabbed from Vyara taluka of tribal-dominated Tapi district, Babita, 30, was picked up from Santrampur taluka of Mahisagar district, a source in Ahmedabad-based Gujarat ATS team said.

The trio were booked under IPC sections 124-A (sedition) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy).

“The arrested trio were trying to incite members of the Satipati tribal community against the state government. Maoist literature and anti-government posters were seized from their possession along with a laptop and several mobiles, though we have not recovered any weapon from them. They had hidden their identity and were working in local factories for the last four months ,” the source added.