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By Nityanand Shukla

RANCHI, India, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Police have busted two jungle hideouts of Maoist rebels in eastern India and arrested about two dozen guerrillas, some apparently plotting landmine attacks on government forces, officials said on Thursday.

Authorities in Jharkhand state, a Maoist stronghold, said the operation was a significant success and part of a crackdown on the rebels who had stepped up attacks in recent months.

"Eight Maoist rebels were arrested from the jungles of Gumla district of Jharkhand on Thursday morning," said Baljeet Singh, police chief of Gumla district.

Another 16 rebels, from the state's Hazaribagh district, were detained late on Wednesday.

The arrested included a local Maoist commander. Guns, Maoist literature and several sets of combat uniforms were also seized.

Police spokesman S.N. Pradhan said security forces were carrying out a special operation in seven of Jharkhand's 24 districts worst hit by Maoist violence. The districts are remote, hilly and forested.

A swathe of mineral-rich jungles and hills in eastern, central and southern India is affected by the Maoist insurgency.

The rebels, who say they are fighting for the rights of poor farmers and landless labourers, periodically attack government property and police.

The insurgency, which began in the late 1960s in the eastern state of West Bengal, has killed thousands of people, and been described by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the gravest threat to India's internal security. (Writing by Krittivas Mukherjee; Editing by Simon Denyer and Jerry Norton)

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