A joint contingent of Palamu police and 134 battalion of CRPF made a good haul of Maoists’ arms and ammunition at Dhoom Kharn hillock under Manatu police station on Friday. The haul contained 5 rifles and 153 live rounds of fire.These were hidden between rocks on the Dhoom Kharn hillock.
Police and CRPF team in a day’s efforts finally got it, said Commandant of 134 battalion of CRPF A D Sharma. The CRPF team was led by its second in command T M Piatie while ASP (Ops) Arun K Singh was from the police side.
Acknowledging the co operation, co ordination and full length assistance in this dishing out of arms and ammunition SP, Palamu, Indrajeet Mahatha had a word of praise and appreciation for the 134 battalion of CRPF in this search operation saying, “The CRPF did its job too well. It worked too hard with Palamu police.”
The recovery of 5 rifles and 153 rounds of ammunition was of 14 months old hiding of them by the Maoists said SP. “It is of the Maoists. They preferred it to hide. They hid it with precaution like rocks and tent material to cover them,” added the SP. Reminded that in this region of Dhoom Kharn Maoists are ‘invisible’ in the past two years then how come these weapons and ammunition found between the rocks SP had two surmises.
One that it could be of top Maoist Sandeep ji. He was lurking down here some 14 months back. He found CoBRA right on his heels then. He and his men decided to keep low. They did not encounter CoBRA knowing full well that it would be disastrous and so Sandeep ji and his men restrained from showing any aberration, he said.
Sandeep ji and his men then might have hidden these weapons and ammunition to save it from going into the hands of the security forces.
The SP had another version as valid as this previous one. Sandeep ji had to confront a deserter in Paramjit ji then. Paramjit ji had run away from Sandeep’s squad with some weapons. He too was here in this region. These weapons and ammunitions could be of him as well. CoBRA just did not spot them then otherwise men and machines of Maoists outfit at this place would have been a history now added SP.
CoBRA could not get Sandeep 14 months back but this security force foiled his and his men’s bid to sneak into Burha Pahar. The SP said an exasperated Sandeep and his men like Arvind Bhuiyan, Kundan and Kanchan Turi had to retreat to Bihar then.
Their planned passage to Burha Pahar was terribly smashed.
On being asked that recovering weapons and ammunition at place like Dhoom Kharn hillock was no easy job unless precise tip off about it was available, the SP said “ Arrested naxals give us vital information. We had a big tip off like this from one arrested top Maoist Kalika ji in Bihar’s Gaya district. Our joint team worked on it and carried out this search too successfully.”
Maoists who hid these had a feeble hope of regaining it later on as they had hidden it at a place on hillock at Dhoom Kharn which faced a village temple and had a wishful hope that security forces would not be here but on Friday police and CRPF proved Sandeep ji and his men too wrong.
ASP (Ops) Arun K Singh said the location of the temple was like any land mark there.