Security forces in Jharkhand launched a massive area domination exercise - Operation Anaconda II - to flush out Maoists from the Saranda forests.
Sources said the operation would last for two months and it will be carried out on a much larger scale compared to the normal combing operation.
The first edition of the Operation was launched in August 2011 which had lasted for 35 days when Jharkhand Police along with their Odisha counterparts had dismantled several training and shelter facilities of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) outfit. Before the Operation Anaconda-I, the 850-sq-km Saranda forest was being used as the Eastern Regional Bureau of the outfit and considered impenetrable.
The Operation Anaconda-II, that was started on Sunday evening, is being carried out by CPRF and its elite force Cobra, IR Battalion, Jharkhand Police and their commando force Jharkhand Jaguar. A senior cop associated with the operation said it is to restore a ‘sense of security’ and boost the ongoing developmental works under the much-hyped Saranda Action Plan (SAP). However, Odisha Police have not yet joined the operation. They may join later.
Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum SP Pankaj Kamboj declined comment on the operation. Sources said after a lull, a group of the ultras have repeatedly made their presence felt by burning six vehicles on November 25. The visit of Union Minister Jairam Ramesh, who is vigorously pushing the SAP, was deferred twice this month.
Rourkela Police on the Odisha side of the border too have stepped up surveillance on the border stretch from Bisra to Topadihi to prevent incursion.
