PATNA: In a day of successes in dealing with the Maoist crisis, security forces in Jharkhand on Monday gunned down four Maoists of the CPI(Maoist) outfit, including two women in Palamu district, and arrested three other rebels of the People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI) outfit in Khunti district.
Among the four Maoists killed in Chhatarpur area of the northern district were Rakesh Bhuiyan and Bimal Yadav, who carried a reward of Rs 10 lakh and Rs 5 lakh respectively on their heads. The two women Maoists gunned down were identified as Ruby and Urmila.
Nearly 12 Maoists were hiding in the hilly Marunga area when a joint team of Palamu district police and CRPF’s 134 Battalion reached there as part of their search operation on Monday morning. The leftwing rebels started firing at the security forces, prompting them to retaliate.
“After about an hour of exchange of fire, four bodies were recovered. The other Maoists managed to flee,” said Sanjay Anand Latkar, inspector general of CRPF. “Rakesh Bhuiyan was a top-level commander of the banned outfit. This is a major success for security forces,” he added.
SK Linda, commandant of CRPF’s 134 Battalion who led the operation, said two self-loading rifles (SLRs), five magazines and 219 bullets at the encounter site. A Maoist of Bhuiyan’s squad was gunned down and a woman cadre was arrested during a similar encounter in the Jhujhunu jungles in Palamu on February 8.
“The team of security forces that carried out this operation would get a total cash award of Rs 13 lakh. The state government will give Rs 5 lakh while the state DGP and CRPF DG have each announced Rs 4 lakh for this brave team,” said state IGP Ashish Batra.
In the central Khunti district, three wanted Maoists of the outlawed PLFI – Prasanna Gudiya Hilarious Gudiya, Dhiraj Kandulna – were arrested. SP Ashwini Kumar Sinha said two country-made guns, six live cartridges and three stolen motorcycles were recovered from the trio. Prasanna Gudiya has been an expert in repairing guns for the outfit, he added.