As Chatra Police made extensive efforts to trace the Maoists abducted on Thursday in Kunda jungles of lakarbandha, the Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC) has decided to release them.
The call came after a kangaroo court organised on Saturday and the families have already been informed. “According to our intelligence, TPC has announced that the 25 Maoists it abducted will be released soon,” said the Chatra SP.
Meanwhile, the Maoists have declared a Jharkhand and Bihar bandh on April 6-7 to oppose the alleged joint conspiracy of the police and TPC. The police, however, say there was a group of traitors within the Maoists themselves, who informed TPC. Chatra SP Anoop Birtharay said, “This is purely a war of supremacy, which is not new between the Maoist and TPC.”
On the TPC-Maoist gunbattle, he said, “Despite a difficult terrain, we reached at the spot on time, which they never expected. The rebels had to flee, leaving bodies and ammunitions behind.”
Birtharay also claimed that the rebels fought among themselves but tried to paint a different picture to gain locals’ sympathy. “TPC cadre had all knowledge of Maoist movement, were already present in the village, posing as villagers. They attacked while the Maoists were retiring after lunch,” he said. Sources revealed that there were two teams of 35 junior and 12 senior Maoist cadre each, on the move from Gumla on Thursday.
It seemed straight out of a potboiler novel. TPC put sleeping pills into the food the villagers cooked for the Naxals. They took away their weapons when the latter fell asleep. The TPC rebels pinpointed and killed the leaders on the pot, while abducting the junior cadre. The smaller Maoist team, however, managed to sneak away by another route. Meanwhile, the terrorised villagers anticipate an attack by the Maoists in retaliation and have started moving out of the village. “Although, there was no role played by villagers, the Maoist will definitely come to get clues from us. We are trying to keep away, at least at night,” said Gannu Ganjhu.
In a release on Saturday, the Naxals have threatened to take revenge, observing the coming week as ‘Opposition Week’. Ten Maoist rebels were killed in the gunbattle with TPC.