An encounter took place between the joint forces of CoBRA and latehar police and CPI Maoists at Burha Pahar on Monday. The encounter began at 8 am on Monday. It lasted for two hours. These two hours witnessed heavy firing from both the sides.
DIG police Saket Kumar Singh has confirmed the encounter at Burha Pahar saying the heavy firing went on for two hours and then, the Maoists resorted to their old trick of firing intermittently so as to make a retreat for their cadres. Here too intermittent firing went on for another 90 to 100 minutes.
The DIG said security personnel are safe and unhurt. On being asked if the security forces have inflicted injuries/casualties to the camp of the Maoists, Saket said, “So far, we have no evidence of their getting hurt and till we have a clinching evidence of it, no claim can be made at all.”
The DIG agreed that this encounter ruined the camp of the one of the top Maoists, Arvind ji. He said it was not a training camp, but a shelter for the Maoists.
On being asked, if this is true, the squad of Arvind ji has now reduced to 40-50 cadres, DIG police said, "Yes. The squad of Arvind ji has definitely shrunk. It has now a maximum of 50 cadres. There was a time not very long ago when this top Maoist had with him 150 cadres ready to do any thing for him."
The joint team of CoBRA and latehar police recovered four IEDs. All these 4 land mines were destroyed on the spot where they were so discovered.
Apart from four IEDs the security forces found 19 blankets, one gen set, 9 electric detonators, 500 meters of electric cables, lots of medicines, cooking utensils.
A good number of Maoists literature were seized too.
When asked if there was any concrete input about the stay camp of the Maoists in Burha Pahar DIG said ' Our boys just do not take walk in jungles or pahars but work on pointed and precise information'.
About sighting of horse/horses as Arvind ji's squad is pretty fond of horses for logistics transportation DIG told the Pioneer ' One or two were sighted but once heavy firing broke out these horses take no time in leaping forward to the dense of the jungles'.
Sources said the security forces have rendered the life of top Maoist Arvind ji most miserable. last year the security forces had even seized the boots and t shirts meant for Arvind ji.
Sources said bad times have begun for the Maoists as in Panki last year the security forces even seized the jalebis for the Maoists which were to be shipped by a private bus there.