Ranchi: At least three Maoists were killed in an encounter with security forces in a forested area of Jharkhand on Wednesday. An AK-56 assault rifle was among the weapons seized from the site. A cordon and search operation was launched after firing stopped.
The encounter took place in the Gumla district of the state. A tip-off was received of the presence of members of the Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad (JJMP) – a splinter group of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) – being present in the forest near the Kechki village in the Bishnupur police station area.
Personnel of the Jharkhand Jaguar and Gumla Police reached the spot and a firefight started.
“Three JJMP Maoists were killed in the gunfight. Three weapons were also recovered from the site,” Michael Raj S, IG (Operations), Jharkhand Police, said.
According to Gumla SP Haris Bin Zaman, the dead Maoists have been identified as Lalu Lohra and Sujit Oraon, residents of the Lohardaga district, and Chotu Oraon from Latehar.
“The Maoists opened fire on spotting the security personnel. The police retaliated, resulting in the deaths of three Maoists,” a statement released by the police said.
An AK-56 rifle, one INSAS rifle and a Self-Loading Rifle (SLR) were seized along with a large quantity of ammunition.
“The JJMP organisation is almost finished. Nine JJMP members have been killed and three arrested. Nine have surrendered. The remaining 2-3 members will be arrested soon,” it was mentioned in the statement.
“A total of 32 Maoists have been killed this year. We have set a target to eliminate Maoists from the state by the end of this year. No Maoist will remain to see 2026. I would suggest that they surrender before the security forces or face the consequences,” Jharkhand DGP Anurag Gupta had said recently.