The Jharkhand police on Thursday continued search operations in Dumka and Pakur districts along the State’s border with West Bengal in the wake of Maoist attack on police vehicles on Tuesday that killed six policemen, including district Superintendent of Police Amarjeet Balihar, according to senior officials.
Meanwhile, in Latehar, in west Jharkhand along the border with Chhattisgarh, over 1,200 policemen and paramilitary forces were deployed to surround areas of the Kumandih forest in Manika block, where over 200 cadre of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoists) are believed to have come together for meetings.
Continuing the operations for the 10th day in the area, State police and paramilitary troops, including from the CRPF’s Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) and Jharkhand Jaguar, destroyed some camps on Wednesday and Thursday and seized three improvised explosive devices, 13 detonators, several backpacks, mobile chargers and literature from a camp near Murhar hills in Kumandih.
“We have information that several top leaders of the Koel Sankh zone were having meetings in the area. We are proceeding cautiously as Maoists had planted explosives in the entire area. In some parts of the thick forest, they have occupied hilly terrain, where they will be an advantage,” said Jharkhand Director-General of Police who visited the area on Wednesday.
