RANCHI: In a significant achievement during the anti-Maoist operation, a joint team of security forces comprising Chaibasa Police, Seraikela-Kharsawan Police, Jharkhand Jaguar and the CRPF’s 60th Battalion have recovered 16 IEDs from the dense Langi forests under the Toklo police station area in Chaibasa. According to police, all of them were diffused on the spot from a security point of view.
The operation was launched based on intelligence inputs received by the Superintendent of Police, West Singhbhum, on July 6, indicated the presence of top Maoist leaders Misir Besra, Anmol, Mochu, Anal and several others, who, along with Their armed squads were actively moving through the Saranda-Kolhan region with plans to carry out destructive activities.
Responding swiftly to the intelligence input, a joint team was constituted and Rushed to the region on July 7 in the forested areas in the jurisdiction of Toklo police station in West Singhbhum and Dalbhanga Out Post in Seraikela-Kharsawan.
“During the combing operation in the Kotsona and Langi hill areas, the security forces recovered 16 IEDs, each weighing approximately 2 kg, planted by Maoist cadres to target security personnel and hinder ongoing operations,” stated
The official communique was released by the Chaibasa police. The bomb disposal squad safely defused all the explosives on the spot, eliminating any potential risk to civilian lives or security forces, it said.
The search operation continues. Notably, Maoists are now restricted only to the Saranda jungles in Jharkhand as they have been wiped out from other pockets of the state. According to an estimate, around 85 - 90 Maoists are supposed to be hiding in the Saranda jungles, where they have planted thousands of IEDs, which have become a challenge for the security forces.
Even though Maoists have planted IEDs in the entire area, forces are advancing slowly into the jungles with full determination and have established several temporary security camps in their core areas, he said.
The state police have launched a joint operation in Kolhan jungles in November 2022 after a tip-off that some of the senior Maoist leaders, including Misir Besra and Patiram Majhi alias Anal Da, are hiding in that forest stretch, which is said to be strategically important.