Ranchi, Sep 13 - A Maoist commander was arrested with nine landmines in Jharkhand's Latehar district Sunday, police said.

'On a tip-off, we raided the jungle area under Barwadih police station jurisdiction in Latehar. We succeeded in arresting a Maoist commander and seized nine landmines and 25 live cartridges from him,' a police official told IANS by telephone.

The Maoist leader was identified as Bhim Singh, 'area commander' of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist).

According to police, Singh was wanted in more than 15 cases, including for hatching conspiracy to kill security personnel in a landmine blast.

Maoist guerrillas are active in 18 of the 24 districts of Jharkhand. Nearly 1,550 people have been killed in Maoist-related violence in the last eight years.