Latest news with #Naxals
New Indian Express
7 hours ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Anti-Maoist strike force in Chhattisgarh DRG counters multiple challenges during intensified operations
BASTAR: This year, 21 May emerged as an epoch-making day marked by exceptional operational efficiency in the ongoing battle against India's single biggest internal security challenge, the CPI (Maoist). On that day, the valiant District Reserve Guard (DRG) in south Chhattisgarh's Bastar eliminated the dreaded supreme commander of the Naxals, Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju, who was the general secretary of the banned outfit. The DRGs are well-trained forces with combat capabilities raised in the strife-torn Bastar zone with a mission, to take on the Maoist challenge that has persisted as a virtual war against the state for over four decades. The DRG, a special combat team of the Chhattisgarh police force, came into existence in 2012 in Narayanpur and Kanker. Witnessing its effective and successful outcome, it was later established in the remaining five districts, Bijapur, Jagdalpur, Sukma, Kondagaon, and Dantewada, across the Bastar range. They operate under the command of the respective district police chiefs.
Indian Express
8 hours ago
- Indian Express
Surrendered Maoist dies by suicide inside open prison in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh
A 30-year-old surrendered Maoist was found dead in a surrender inmates' open jail in Hazaribagh district. Jail authorities confirmed that the inmate — identified as Chhota Shyamlal Dehri, also known by the aliases Santu Dehri and Somlal Dehri — was found unresponsive inside his allotted cottage during the morning headcount Saturday. According to jail officials, Dehri hailed from Dukhan Dehri village in Jharkhand's Dumka district. He had been transferred from Central Jail Dumka and entered the 'surrender prison' on February 9, 2021. He was facing trial in eight pending criminal cases related to Naxal activities. The incident came to light during the morning headcount when Dehri, who was lodged in Ward No. D, did not respond to calls from prison staff. Speaking to The Indian Express, Jail Superintendent Jitendra Kumar said the deceased was an unmarried man from Dumka district and had been living alone in one of the 100 cottages meant for surrendered Naxals. 'Each inmate is given an individual unit that includes a room, a kitchen, and a bathroom. This isn't a typical prison, but a rehabilitation facility for surrendered cadres,' Kumar said. The deceased had been moved to the Dumka prison in February 2021 and was an undertrial in connection with eight different cases. He had reportedly surrendered on April 22, 2020, after initially joining the banned outfit due to a land dispute in his village. 'He joined the Naxal outfit hoping they would help resolve his land issue, but when that didn't happen, he became disillusioned and surrendered,' Kumar added. Authorities found the body after security personnel conducting morning rounds received no response when they knocked on his door. 'The cottages are locked from the outside at night. In this case, he had also locked the inner door, which is against protocol. When guards received no response, they forcibly opened the door and found him hanging from the ceiling hook. He tied a wire to the hook and then used a rope,' Kumar said. The room was not under CCTV surveillance, as the surrender prison does not follow the standard high-security setup of regular prisons. Officials said the inmate had shown no signs of mental illness during his stay. 'He wasn't under any psychiatric care. Those with such issues are referred to Ranchi for treatment,' Kumar said. However, another official admitted there is a lack of regular psychological counselling at the facility. 'We don't have a trained counsellor in this jail, and honestly, most prisons across the country don't. There's a serious staff crunch. Sometimes NGOs conduct small sessions, but nothing is regular or institutionalised,' he said. Asked about possible stress or depression, Kumar said while Dehri was not undergoing psychiatric care, one fellow inmate shared that the deceased occasionally spoke of stress over unresolved land disputes. According to official information, no suicide incidents have been reported in the Hazaribagh Open Jail in recent years. However, in the last two to three months, four such cases have occurred in other jails across the state; two in Hatuwadh, one in Dumka, and one in Central Jail Hazaribagh. The incident has been reported to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), and police at Lohsinghana station have been informed to register an Unnatural Death (UD) case. The family, including his parents and brother, has also been informed. Further investigation is underway. Shubham Tigga hails from Chhattisgarh and studied journalism at the Asian College of Journalism. He previously reported in Chhattisgarh on Indigenous issues and is deeply interested in covering socio-political, human rights, and environmental issues in mainland and NE India. Presently based in Pune, he reports on civil aviation, other transport sectors, urban mobility, the gig economy, commercial matters, and workers' unions. You can reach out to him on LinkedIn ... Read More
Time of India
10 hours ago
- Time of India
NIA chargesheets 3 Naxals for involvement in extortion, forced recruitment in Jharkhand
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has chargesheeted three Naxals for allegedly being involved in extortion and forced recruitment of people in their proscribed outfit in Jharkhand, officials said on a supplementary charge sheet filed on Friday before a special court in Ranchi, Jharkhand, the NIA charged Krishna Hansda alias Saurav Da alias Avinash Da, Abhijit Korah alias Matla Korah alias Sunil Korah, and Ramdayal Mahto alias Nilesh Da alias Bachchan Da for having a part in the 2023 CPI(Maoist) terrorist conspiracy case, they was the regional committee member of CPI (Maoist), a banned outfit, Korah one of its armed cadres, and Mahto its special area committee member, they hails from Bihar, while the other two were Jharkhand native, the probe agency said in a statement."All three were found to be active members of the proscribed terrorist organisation and a part of its larger conspiracy involving extortion, armed intimidation, and forced recruitment in the general area of Parasnath, district Giridih, Jharkhand," it roles unravelled with the arrest of Krishna Hansda in January 2023 from Lucio forest area of the Dumri Police Station under Giridih district."The local police had recovered levy money, one 7.65 mm bore pistol, and several incriminating documents from his possession," the NIA the seizure, police then registered an FIR against Hansda, Korah, Mahto and several unknown persons, and also filed a charge sheet against Hansda, it took over the case and re-registered it in June 2023.
Time of India
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Security forces engage in encounter with Naxalites in Jharkhand's Jhariakela
Security forces in Jharkhand engaged in an encounter with CPI (Maoist) Naxalites, who fled into the forests. Explosives were recovered during the search. This follows a major anti-Naxal operation in Chhattisgarh that eliminated 27 Naxals, including top commander Basavaraju. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The security forces engaged in an encounter with members of banned Naxalite organisation CPI (Maoist) at around 12 PM on May 30. The encounter occurred in the hilly/forest areas of Vangram Tirilposi under Jhariakela Police Station in Jharkhand, a press release the encounter, seeing the security forces gaining an upper hand, the Naxalites fled from the incident spot by taking advantage of the forests and and other daily-use items were recovered and seized by the security forces during the search the Indian forces conducted a major anti-Naxal operation in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur, eliminating 27 Naxals, which included top commander the general secretary of CPI (Maoist), has been involved in Naxalite activities for the past 40-45 years and has been involved in more than 200 Naxalite Naxal activity in Bastar and many regions of India has "reduced significantly" as a result of carrying out operations against the banned and "illegal" CPI-M outfit, a police official said on General (IG) of police, Bastar, P Sundarraj told ANI, "As a result of carrying out operations against the banned and illegal CPI-M outfit, Naxal activity in Bastar and many regions of India has reduced significantly... 4 districts of Bastar sub-division, Bijapur, Sukma, Narayanpur, and Kanker were identified as the most affected LWE districts... 6 districts of Chhattisgarh, including Bastar, Dhamtari, and Rajnandgaon, will be specially monitored by us for any kind of resurgence".The IG stated that most of the districts in Chhattisgarh are seeing a drop in naxal activity."In the country, only 18 districts are Naxal-affected and 28 districts are included in the list of districts of maximum thrust... District of maximum thrust means that naxal activity in the district has reduced to a great extent, but strict observations are still required... Most of the districts in Chhattisgarh are seeing a drop in naxal activity...," he said.
India Today
a day ago
- Politics
- India Today
Jawan injured in Naxal encounter in Jharkhand, cache of explosives recovered in Ops
A fierce encounter broke out between the police and Naxalites in Jharkhand, leaving one personnel injured. Following the clash, the security forces recovered a cache of explosive materials, Naxalite uniforms, and other items from the encounter confrontation took place in the Saranda forest of West Singhbum district in the encounter, Naxalites carried an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) blast, resulting in injuries to Sunil Kumar of the COBRA 209 battalion. He was immediately rushed to a hospital for Despite the intensity of the attack, the police retaliated with heavy firing, after which, the Naxalites to sources, the cache of explosives looted on the Odisha-Jharkhand border in recent days has been recovered by Jharkhand Police in Tirilposi as the Naxalites kept firing at the security Singhbhum Superintendent of Police (SP) Rakesh Ranjan confirmed the incident and stated that a search operation is still underway in the police recovered a large quantity of explosives during the encounter, which were looted by the Naxals near the Jharkhand-Odisha border. The Naxalites had attacked and looted a truck containing four tons of explosives from Banka mines in Odisha near the Jharkhand Director General of Police himself camped in Rourkela for two days to investigate the incident by the Maoists. Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is also investigating the to a press release by the police, top leaders of the CPI Maoist Naxalite organisation — Misir Besra, Anmol, Mochhu, Anal, Asim Mandal, Ajay Mahato, Sangen Angaria, Ashwin, Pintu Lohra, Chandan Lohra, Amit Dansda alias Upton, Jaykant, and Rapa Munda — are active with their squad members. These Naxalite leaders may carry out destructive incidents in the view of this, the police have intensified the search operation in the area. In this operation, besides the Chaibasa police, jawans from CoBRA, Jharkhand Jaguar, and CRPF are continuously conducting search operations in the forested and hilly week, as many as 30 Naxals were killed in an encounter with the security forces in Chhattisgarh. These included top Naxal leader Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavraj, who carried a bounty of Rs 1 crore, sources Watch
