Ranchi: The Home Secretary of the Government of India has appreciated the work done by the administrative and police officials of Jharkhand towards eradication of leftist extremism. Under the leadership of DGP of Jharkhand, an all-round joint operation against Naxalites is being conducted with Jharkhand Police, CRPF, Cobra, and Jharkhand Jaguar. A total of 745 Naxalites were arrested by the security forces in the year 2022 and 2023. These included 3 Special Area Committee members, one Regional Committee member, 10 Zonal Commanders, 16 Sub Zonal Commanders and 25 Area Commanders.
20 Naxalites were killed in a police encounter. Most of the CPI Maoist Naxalite were killed in the encounter by Chatra District Police. These included CPI-Maoist Naxalite SAC members Gautam Paswan, Ajit Oraon, carrying a reward of Rs 25 lakh, and Naxalite Sub Zonal Commander Amar Ganjhu and Sub Zonal Commander Ajay Yadav, carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakh (Maoists carrying a total reward of Rs 60 lakh were killed together in a police encounter).
Apart from this, Naxalite sub zonal commander Lajim Ansari (reward of Rs 5 lakh) was killed in a police encounter in Gumla district. In the year 2022-23, 38 Naxalites surrendered after being influenced by the increasing police crackdown and the rehabilitation and surrender policy of the state government. These include Vimal Yadav, a member of the Special Area Committee, three members of the Regional Committee, Aman Ganjhu, Duryodhan Mahato and Indal Ganjhu, 4 Zonal Commanders, 9 Sub Zonal Commanders and 10 Area Commanders.
During this period, Rs 1.10 crore collected as levy from Naxalites was recovered by the security forces. Also, a total of 26 new camps were established by the security forces in the interior areas during this period, which has increased the sense of security in these areas. Naxalites have been controlled in almost all the areas of the state. Now their activity is limited only to Kolhan.
It may be noted that five top Maoists were killed in a police encounter in Chatra district in April this year. This is the first such incident in recent years, where five Maoists were killed simultaneously in a police encounter. This incident completely demoralized the Naxal cadre, who had come from Chakarbandha and had taken shelter in this area.
The CPI Maoist organization has suffered a major blow with the arrest and surrender of top militant leaders in the hilly areas of Parasnath (Giridih) and Lugu Jhumra hilly area (Bokaro, Hazaribagh). Joint operation of security forces is going on in Kolhan, the last stronghold of CPI Maoist.