In a pre-election drive the Palamu police and two units of the 134 battalion of the CRPF recovered 76 cottage made hand grenades 3 kilograms of explosive, 70 detonators, surgical thread of 50 metre, one hand drill machine, battery tester and 12 Naxal literatures. All these without firing even a scare shot said sources.
The recovery of 76 hand grenades was as stunning as the recovery of 50 meter of surgical thread. The thread was once used in stitching the belly of a CRPF cop in the jungle of Katiya wherein the Maoists had planted two IEDs in his belly. The recovery of thread indicates the Maoists are still looking for a chance to make a dead cop a live IED.
The Palamu police and the CRPF did this great job on Sunday March 9. SP Palamu YS Ramesh said there came an information of one sub-zonal commander of the CPI Maoist Ankit Yadav alias Girender Yadav taking a road journey from Taal area to Panki and immediately the contingent of police and the CRPF pushed off from here to Panki.
Catching Ankit in day time was no easy job as this Maoist has a notorious track record of killing cops and looting their weapons. This 30-year-old Maoist has more than a dozen cases alone in Jharkhand’s Palamu and has cases against him in Bihar too said Ramesh.
The police and the CRPF drew a strategy. One unit of CRPF led by YC Sudhanshu Shekher and TS Parihar rushed to Kekargarh in Panki while assistant commandant Niraj Kumar of CRPF remained alert on the escape route and Yadav had nothing with him but to be caught with one pistol and 3 cartridges of 7.65 bore.
The security forces knew Yadav could not be with just one pistol so he was put to interrogation and that led to the haul of grenades. These 76 grenades were buried in the jungle of Domar Kharn in Panki. In order to save these grenades from the damp earth all the 76 grenades were kept in a huge plastic container and 3 feet down the earth.
A perfect co-ordination between the police and the CRPF led to the arrest and recovery of ammunition and explosives. Sources said the CRPF gets on the anti-Naxal drive with physical and mental preparations both and March 9 arrest and recovery reflects it. Yadav was caught with a Muslim identified as Shaheed Ansari of Panki as Ansari’s crime was that security forces recovered 75 rounds of ammunition from his house and these ammunition were of AK 47 said Ramesh.
The 134 battalion Commandant Anil Minz who was not present in the joint press briefing of Ramesh and CRPF’s Shekher later told Pioneer on phone that Yadav run the writ in areas like Jaspur, Matnaag, Kekargarh and Dwarika. Ramesh conceded that these hand grenades could be used for disruptions of poll here.
The Model Code of Conduct came on March 5 and this recovery of huge cache of ammunition in four days time shows the police and the CRPF leaving no chance un used to crack down against the Naxals who are all out to cause dislocations in the polls here slated for April 10. Yadav and Ansari were remanded in judicial custody on Monday said Ramesh.