A joint team of State Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on Thursday gunned down three Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC) rebels and recovered an AK-47 and two Automated Machine Guns during a gun battle at Bundu Village in Hazaribagh.
Acting upon a tip off from intelligence sources, the 190 battalion of the CRPF and Chatra Police conducted the encounter under Keredari Police Station of the district, around 85 kilometer North West of State Capital.
The neutralized rebels were not identified by the time this report was filed. However, CRPF sources said that they most likely held senior positions in the rebel outfit since the arms and ammunitions recovered from their hideout were modern and expensive.
Sources said that as the security forces entered the Tara forest, where the rebels were hiding, the TPC ultras opened fire at them. The three ultras were killed in retaliatory firing by security forces.
“Acting upon a tip off from our sources, the 190 battalion of the CRPF planned and executed the operation. We are still in the process of identifying the gunned down rebels,” said Prakash Badal, spokesperson, CRPF Jharkhand.
According to figures with the Ministry of Home Affairs, at least 18 of 24 districts in Jharkhand are Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected. Apart from the CPI (Maoists), there are at least 17 splinter outfits active in the tribal state.
The TPC was formed in 2002 after some cadres of the CPI (Maoists) decided to quit the banned rebel group and form their own outfit. The TPC in Jharkhand has been at war with the CPI (Maoists) over ideological differences since its formation.
Additional Director General of Police (Operations), ML Meena said that Chatra police played a crucial role in the anti-insurgency operation.
“All the rebels gunned down in the operation are members of the Azad Dasta of TPC,” said Meena.