CPI (Maoist) central committee member Sahdev Soren, carrying a bounty of Rs 1 crore, and two other Maoists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Jharkhand’s Hazaribag district on Monday.
The encounter broke out around 6 am in the Pantitri forest under the Gorhar Police Station limits between the squad led by Sahdev and a joint team of CoBRA, Hazaribag and Giridih police personnel, a senior officer said.
Jharkhand Police IG (operations) and spokesperson Michael Raj said the joint operation was carried out based on an intelligence report.
“As the joint forces reached the forest, Maoists started firing at them, and the security personnel retaliated. Three Maoists were killed during the gunfight,” the IG said.
The police said the other two senior rebels have been identified as Raghunath Hembram alias Chanchal, a special area committee member carrying a reward of Rs 25 lakh on his head, and Birsen Ganjhu, a zonal committee member carrying Rs 10-lakh bounty. Several weapons, including three AK-47s and 63 live cartridges were recovered from the encounter site, another officer said.
Jharkhand DGP Anurag Gupta, who visited Hazaribag on Monday, said this is a big achievement for the state police.
“Our two jawans were injured in the incident, but they are out of danger. Our field officers and those who are monitoring the situation did not sleep the whole night until the operation was executed,” Gupta told reporters.
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He said the deceased Maoists were involved in the killing of a dozen policemen and also in the murder of the Leader of Opposition Babulal Marandi’s son and brother. They had also looted 183 rifles from police.
Sahdev alias Prawesh and was a resident of Mandari village in Hazaribagh. He joined the underground movement in the early 1990s and was active in the Bokaro, Hazaribagh, and Giridih districts of Jharkhand, said the DGP.
“He was behind several high-profile attacks, including the 2007 Chilkari massacre in Giridih where 20 people, including Marandi’s brother and son, were killed,” he said.
Hembram, a resident of Giridih, was a member of the special area committee. He was active since 1993 and was named in 58 criminal cases.
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Ganjhu, a resident of Bakchumba village in Hazaribagh, was a zonal committee member. He joined the MCC in the mid-1990s and was active in Bokaro, Hazaribagh, and Giridih, said the DGP. Ganjhu, had 36 criminal cases lodged against him.
“As many as 29 red-rebels have been killed since January 1. We urge them either to surrender or face the consequences,” the DGP said.
This was the second gunfight incident between Maoists and security forces in Jharkhand in two days. On Sunday, a sub-zonal commander of the Maoist splinter group Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee, Mukhdev Yadav alias Toofan ji, carrying a bounty of Rs 5 lakh, was killed in an encounter in Palamu district.
Officials said search operations are continuing in the forest to track down other members of the squad who may have escaped during the encounter.
