In a significant success for the security forces in Maoist-infested Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, as many as six cadres of the proscribed Maoist outfit have been arrested in back-to-back operations launched on Sunday, March 3.
According to the information received, a joint team of security forces comprised of personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), and district police was out on a counter-insurgency operation between the Jarpalli and Aampur area from where they nabbed a female Maoist cadre.
The arrested cadre has been identified as Rambai, head of the Krantikari Adiwasi Mahila Sangathan (KAMS), an offshoot of the proscribed CPI Maoists of Kamlapur. According to reports, Rambai was carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head. The arrest has been made near the forest of Jarpalli village.
It’s been learned that the security forces, while arresting the accused Rambai, have also seized cooker bombs and pamphlets pertaining to the ongoing Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign (TCOC) being run by the extremists from early spring to late summer every year.
Meanwhile, in another operation launched by the personnel of District Reserve Guard (DRG) and district police on Sunday itself, as many as five lower rung cadres of the Maoist outfit have also been arrested from the Kotarpaal forest area of Bijapur district.
The arrest was made when the personnel were out on a Road Opening Party (ROP), where they arrested Hadma Madkami, Ramesh Awlam aka Bojja, Kumaru Lekam, Maddaram Podiyam and Bomda Kuhrami, all cadres of the outlawed Maoist outfit.
The joint team has also recovered materials like detonators, tiffins, and cooker bombs from the possession of the accused, it’s been revealed that the said cadres were planning to plant the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) with an aim to harm the security forces.
It is noteworthy, that the said operations were launched a day after the extremists, in a horrifying attack, stabbed a local BJP leader to death when the latter was returning from a wedding function in Toynar area. The horrific incident occurred on late Friday evening, March 1 just around 700 meters from the Toynar police station. It’s been later revealed that the deceased BJP leader, Tirupati Katla, was on the hit-list of the extremists for quite some time and the outlaws were in search of an opportunity to kill him.
The attack on the BJP leader was carried out by a Small Action Team (SAT) of the outlaws who launched a surprise attack on the BJP leader with sharp edge weapons and left him gravely wounded before fleeing the spot. Tirupati was immediately rushed to a private hospital for treatment where he later succumbed to his injuries.
The deadly attack on the BJP worker refreshes the memories of a number of such attacks carried out by the extremists against the leaders associated with the saffron party within a year’s time. Notably, a total of six political workers of the BJP have been killed in separate attacks carried out by the ultras since January last year.
