Bokaro: A top Maoist commander, with a bounty of Rs 5 lakh on his head, was killed in an encounter with security forces in Jharkhand’s Bokaro district on Wednesday. A commando of the CRPF’s Combat Battalion For Resolute Action (CoBRA) also laid down his life in the operation.
A local villager was also hit by a stray bullet and died, the police said. The man has initially been mistaken for a Maoist, but the police cleared up the matter later.
The security forces launched a combing operation in the area after the encounter in search of other Maoist cadre – either dead or alive – and stores such as weapons and explosives. That is when the body of the villager was discovered, resulting in the confusion.
According to Jharkhand DGP Anurag Gupta, the gunfight broke out between the security forces and the Maoists in the Birhordera forest under the Gomia police station around 5.30 am. The security forces were acting on specific intelligence inputs, he said.
“An exchange of fire took place between the Maoists and security forces, in which a dreaded Maoist, identified as Kunwar Manjhi, was killed. He was carrying a bounty of Rs 5 lakh on his head,” he said.
According to the DGP, the deceased CRPF jawan is Parneswar Koch, a resident of Kokrajhar in Assam. The commando suffered serious injuries and was air-lifted to Ranchi and rushed to a hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.
Gupta said that an AK-47 rifle was recovered from the spot, and the search operation will continue. “A wreath-laying ceremony will be held in Ranchi for the braveheart. Thereafter, his body will be sent to his home,” he added.
The DGP claimed that nearly 95 per cent of Left Wing Extremism has been eliminated in Jharkhand.
“Since January, over 20 top Naxals have either been killed, arrested or have surrendered,” he said. This is in keeping with the plans of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to eliminate the menace from the country by March 31, 2026.
Meanwhile, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma condoled the death of the CRPF jawan. He said that the people of the state salute his sacrifice.
“We will always be there to support them (his family) and this sacrifice will not go in vain as our forces unleash their power to eliminate Naxalism from the face of the earth,” Sarma said.