HAZARIBAG: Jharkhand police, along with CRPF’s COBRA battalion, gunned down three top Maoists, including one carrying Rs 1 crore bounty on his head, early Monday in Pantitri forests under Gorhar police station limits, about 80km from Hazaribag district headquarters. Two COBRA jawans also sustained injuries and are undergoing treatment in Ranchi, police said.
Among those who got killed in Monday’s crackdown are Sahdev Soren alias Pravesh, a central committee member of CPI Maoists, carrying a reward of Rs 1 crore on his head, Raghunath Hembrom alias Chanchal, carrying a bounty of Rs 25 lakh, and Birsen Ganjhu with a reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head.
Recoveries included three AK-47 rifles with magazines, 63 live rounds and six loaded magazines, three magazine pouches, large quantity of arms and ammunition among others from the site of encounter.
The encounter broke out in the forested region of Pantitri, close to the Bokaro and Giridih district borders. Security forces, including CoBRA, Hazaribag, and Giridih police had conducted a joint operation upon receiving tip off about presence of Soren-led squad. Post encounter, the police have also recovered all the three bodies.
In a post on X, Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah said that the CoBRA Battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Jharkhand police have achieved a huge success in an anti-Naxal operation in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand today. In this operation, the notorious Naxal commander with ₹1 crore bounty, CPI (M)’s CCM Sahdev Soren alias Parvesh has been neutralized. Two other bounty Naxals—Raghunath Hembram alias Chanchal and Birsen Ganjhu alias Ramkhelawan—have also been eliminated by the security forces. Shri Shah added that following this anti-Naxal operation, Naxalism has been completely eradicated from the Bokaro region of northern Jharkhand. Soon, the entire country will be free from the menace of Naxalism.
Talking to the media, DGP Anurag Gupta, who visited Hazaribag after the encounter, said that the success was part of a coordinated offensive launched this year. “Since Jan 1, the joint operations with CRPF, CoBRA and Jharkhand Jaguar have eliminated 29 Maoists, while 20 have surrendered and 16 have been arrested in the state. Today’s elimination of three top leaders in Hazaribag is a decisive step towards weakening the Maoist structure in Jharkhand,” the DGP added.
Gupta said that Sahdev had led many major operations against police in Bihar and Jharkhand. “He was also involved in killing of former CM Babulal Marandi’s son Anup Marandi,” he said.
Sahdev was also known by other alias such as Kamlesh, Amlesh and Anuj. He led a squad of 25 to 30 extremists and was mostly active in Hazaribag, Giridih and Bokaro districts in Jharkhand and in Jamui, Munger, Lakhisarai and Banka districts of Bihar.
According to police, he led leading the squad which had attacked a homeguard camp in Pachamba area of Giridih looting 183 rifles in 2008. In Banka of Bihar, he led a squad which looted arms from a police station in 2006. He was also wanted in attack on a train between Jamalpur-Ratanpur section in Munger on Nov 30, 2013 in which three GRP jawans were killed. He was wanted in killing of policemen in Jamui and Vishnugarh of Hazaribag and arms loot in Banka district. The police record confirmed that he was wanted in around 30 cases lodged in Bihar and Jharkhand.
