Security forces gunned down a Maoist near latehar-Garhwa border in Budha Pahar area on Wednesday after six security personnel including two senior commandants and 4 constables of Jharkhand police and India reserve Battalion were martyred and four were seriously injured in a landmine blast near Chhattisgarh border in Garhwa district on Tuesday evening. The injured were airlifted and brought to here for better treatment on Wednesday.
According to information joint forces of the Special Task Force of the State Jharkhand Jaguar alongwith IRB were on a search operation near Budha Pahar in on a tip off of CPI (Maoist) cadres’ movement in the area on Tuesday afternoon. The forces were ambushed near Burha Pahar and encounter took place.
As soon as the search team reached Shinjo village under Bhandaria police Station the rebels triggered an IED explosion and the anti landmine vehicle carrying the forces was blown up. The rebels then started firing on the jawans killing six of them.
State police stated that martyred security personnel included Sr Commandant (IRB) Parmanand Chaudhary, Sr Commandant (IRB) Krishna Kumar Niyopani, Constables Ajay Kujur, Kundan Kumar Singh, Ajeet Odiya and Dev Kumar Mahto. The injured persons were ASI Subhash Singh, constables Johny Topno, Ali Ashraf Khan and Arvind Oraon.
later on Wednesday the security personnel gunned down a Maoist in latehar district. IG (Operations) Ashish Batra said a Maoist in Budha Pahar has been killed in encounter with security personnel and an INSAS Rifle was recovered from the spot. He said that the casualty may go up as the encounter was still going on at the site.
DGP DK Pandey, who visited Medica Hospital today to see the injured jawans, said that some outside elements have reached Burha Pahar and are trying to disrupt peace there. He said that the martyrdom of the soldiers will not go waste and the forces will uproot naxalism from State soon.
The bodies of the martyrs were brought to Jharkhand Jaguar headquarters here on Wednesday, where Chief Minister Raghubar Das alongwith senior officials of the government paid tributes to them. Terming the naxals at as cowardice he said, “We will end naxalism from Jharkhand and this will be the real tribute to the martyrs.”