Bokaro: Two Maoists, including a woman, were killed in a gunfight with security forces in Jharkhand’s Bokaro district Wednesday, police said.
A red rebel, who was carrying a bounty of Rs 15 lakh on his head, was also arrested, a senior officer said.
The gunfight took place in a forest area under the Penk Narayanpur Police Station limits early Wednesday, he said.
Jharkhand Director General of Police (DGP) Anurag Gupta, while briefing media persons in Bokaro, said that a Maoist area commander, identified as Shanti Devi, and red rebel Manoj Tudu were killed in the encounter.
“A large cache of arms and ammunition, including sophisticated weapons – an AK-47 and two INSAS rifles – were also recovered,” he said.
Gupta said that 95 per cent of Maoists’ problems ended in Jharkhand.
“Once maximum districts of the state were affected by Maoists but now only two or three districts remained affected by red rebels activities. We have set a target to end the menace by March this year,” he said.
The police had a tip-off that regional committee member (Maoist) Ranvijay Mahato, who is carrying a bounty of Rs 15 lakh, along with his squad, had entered Bokaro district from Parasnath in Giridih to meet the Maoist group’s central committee member Vivek who was touring in Jhumra and Lugu hills, according to a police statement.
Mahato’s squad includes Saheb Ram Majhi, Manoj Tudu, Shanti Devi, Arvind Yadav and other members.
Based on the information, Mahato was arrested on Tuesday evening. “During interrogation, it was found that his squad is planning to carry out a crime in the hilly area of Vanshi and Jadwa villages under the Penk Narayanpur Police Station area,” it stated.
A joint operation team, comprising the Cobra battalion, CRPF, Jharkhand Jaguar and district police, was formed under the leadership of the Bokaro superintendent of police.
“An encounter broke out around 6.10 am between the Maoists and security forces. During the search, one male and one female Maoist were found dead due to gunshot wounds,” the release said.
PTI
