A team of police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on Tuesday killed zonal commander of CPI(Maoist) Sanjay Yadav alias Mantri ji alias Yatin ji in Kodebera village forest under Palkot block of Gumla district. The killed member of the left-wing-extremist organisation was carrying a bounty of Rs 10-lakh on his head.
The security forces recovered the dead body from the encounter site and also recovered arms reportedly carried by the Maoist zonal commander.
“This is a significant achievement for the police. So far he is the one casualty from the CPI-Maoist side. We have recovered one carbine, pistol and other belongings from the possession. The operation has ended,” said SP Gumla, Bhimsen Tuti.
Tuti confided that police had received specific intelligence about movement of the ultra and other members with him however other members of the outfit probably fled the spot before the joint team could engage the dreaded ultra and other members holed up in the jungle.
A joint team of 218th battalion of CRPF and police started combing operation on Tuesday morning in Kodebera forest to chase the ultras who had escaped into the forest to evade confrontation with police. Earlier, the slain ultra was moving in the area on motorcycle and headed into the jungle on foot after he was spotted by the police. A gun battle ensued as the joint team chased the Maoist resulting into his death.
According to sources, the 31-year-old zonal commander has been leading Maoist activities in Simdega sub-zone of Koyal Sankh Zone and was active in whole of Simdega and a part of Gumla district.