Ranchi: Jharkhand director general of police Anurag Gupta has vowed to avenge the death of Sunil Dhan, a constable of the Jharkhand Jaguar (JJ) counter-insurgency force, in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in the forests near Chaibasa, West Singhbhum, on Saturday. A CRPF jawan of the 203 CoBRA battalion was also injured in a similar blast at the same location.
“We know those behind this blast. This is the last phase of our fight against the Naxalites in the state. We shall rid the state of them very soon. We shall avenge the death of our brave policeman. They shall be killed in encounters or we will capture them and drag them out of the forests to face trial,” Gupta told journalists.
According to him, personnel of the 203 CoBRA battalion were on a routine patrol near the Radhapura base camp when the first blast occurred. A CRPF personnel, identified as Vishnu Saini, was injured in this blast.
“This was when our JJ team went to rescue him. A second blast occurred in which Sunil Dhan was severely injured. Both Saini and Dhan were rushed to a hospital in Ranchi by helicopter, but doctors could not save Dhan. There was an exchange of fire between our forces and the Maoists. We will have to check if any Maoists have been killed. This area is between Chhota Nagra and Jaraikela. It is densely forested, with no roads. There are several old IEDs around. Hence, our personnel have to proceed with caution,” Gupta added.
The Kolhan area of West Singhbhum continues to remain a Maoist stronghold. On March 22, Sunil Kumar Mandal, a sub-inspector of the CRPF, was killed in an IED explosion in the district. Since then, security forces have recovered several IEDs and discovered around 16 underground bunkers – each of them with a capacity to accommodate 45-50 people.
