Bihar police has arrested over 1,000 absconding criminals in a special drive in the last few days.

The drive follows a Patna high court order.

Patna police arrested 615 absconding criminals and seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition.

Bihar Governor Buta Singh has constituted a three-member task force to monitor the police operations.

The Patna high court had earlier ordered the arrest of over 20,000 absconding criminals in the state.

The court had directed the state police to arrest absconders against whom non-bailable warrants and property attachment orders were pending.

The court said the criminals should be produced at courts that had issued the warrants.

It also warned that action would be taken against police officials if the orders were not carried out before March 30.