Chaibasa: Two Naxals, including a woman cadre, were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Jharkhand's Chaibasa district on Wednesday, police said.
The deceased have been identified as zonal commander Sanjay Ganjhu and area commander Hemanti, friend of Anal Da, who is carrying a bounty of Rs one crore. Search operation is still underway in the area, they added.
The encounter broke out when a joint team of Jharkhand Police, CRPF and Jaguar Force went out on a search operation in the forests near Bilati Tola under Sonuwa police station area of Chaibasa this morning. Upon seeing the security forces, Naxalites opened fire prompting jawans to resort to a retaliatory firing. Taking advantage of the dense forest, Naxalites escaped from the spot. During the search operation that followed, security personnel recovered two bodies and seized several weapons from the forest.
On information, Jharkhand Police IG (campaign) Amal V Homkar left for Chaibasa to boost the morale of the security forces. According to Jharkhand Police, due to lack of mobile network in the area, complete information could not be gathered yet. "Security forces had gone out for a search operation in the Naxal-affected area of Sonuwa. At around 7:00 am, as soon as the police team moved towards the forest, the Naxalites ambushed them and two of them were killed in retaliatory police action," Jharkhand Police officials confirmed.
It has been revealed that deceased area commander Hemanti Majhiyan known as Hemanti used to roam in the forests with an INSAS rifle and stayed with Anal Da. She hailed from Gorgorwa village under Nawadih police station area of Bokaro. She was known as Anal's bodyguard and friend.
Hemanti is the second woman Naxalite cadre who has been killed in 10 days. Earlier on January 22, area commander Shanti was killed in an encounter with the police in Bokaro.
IG (campaign) Amal V Homkar said the Naxalites have suffered a major setback following the killing of Sanjay and Hemanti. Jharkhand police have made it very clear that if Naxals surrender, they will be welcomed to return to the mainstream otherwise they will face the same fate as Sanjay and Hemanti, he added.
Jharkhand Police have taken an all out effort to meet the deadline set for the elimination of Naxalism. A total of four Naxalites have been killed in encounters this month.
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