In yet another horrific incident of violence against civilian, armed Maoist cadres of the Tritiye Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TSPC), a splinter group of the outlawed CPI Maoist have killed two people of the tribal community in Maoist-hit Chatra district of Jharkhand.
The fateful incident took place on Saturday, May 25 when dozens of armed Maoist belonging to the TSPC barged into the house of Chedi Birhor and killed him along with his son Pankaj Birhor after labelling charges of espionage against the duo.
According to the reports, the extremists made a forceful entry into the house of Birhor in Hindiya Kala village under the Kunda police station limits on Saturday night and then thrashed Chedi and his son black and blue before murdering them.
The incident has sent shockwaves into the region as the deceased were quite outspoken against the Maoist outfit in the past. It’s been learned that earlier Chedi and his son had allegedly shared information of one of the Maoist who was demanding a levy from them to the police which led to the arrest of the latter.
It is assumed that the arrest of their accomplice by the police had enraged the Maoists who in turn have mercilessly killed Chedi and his son. As of now the police have reportedly launched a probe into the matter and are identifying the Maoists involved in the brutal act.
Maoist killed in encounter
It is to be noted that the incident has occurred days after the security forces in a separate operation launched in Chaibasa of Jharkhand had gunned down a Maoist after an exchange of fire under Karaikela police station limits on Thursday, May 23.
The operation was launched by a joint team of Jharkhand police and personnel of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) following inputs of presence of Maoist cadres in the forest area near Baliadih.
It’s been reported that the joint team during the search operation had come across indiscriminate fire opened by the Maoist near the forest of Baliadih and Navada villages to which the forces replied bravely.
After the gunfight, the joint team during the search recovered body of a male Maoist along with arms and ammunition from the spot. The deceased cadre was later identified as Budhram Munda an active member of the outlawed CPI Maoist.
It is noteworthy that of late the security forces in Jharkhand have tighten the grip and contained the spread of the Maoist outfits such as CPI Maoist, TSPC and People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI), another splinter group of the CPI Maoist.
The development occurred after the forces in continuous counter insurgency operations in recent years have neutralised a significant number of Maoist cadres alongside arresting key leaders of these outfits including PLFI Supremo Dinesh Gope and Regional Bureau Chief of CPI Maoist Prashant Bose, who was nabbed by the police in the year 2021.
In similar operation launched against the outlawed TSPC this year, the Jharkhand police in February this year had arrested as many as three of its active cadres on February 20.
The arrested Maoist were identified as Sub Zonal Commander Shobhit alias Abhishek, Area Commander Irfan Ansari along with their acquaintance Balwant alias Sandeep Lohra.
The police team had also recovered two country-made pistols, 9 cartridges of separate calibre, a Naxal receipt, along with other materials in the possession of the accused. Those who were nabbed were accused of threatening coal businessmen, contractors of construction companies for levy extortions.
चतरा जिला के टंडवा थाना क्षेत्र अंतर्गत कोल व्यावसायियों एवं कंस्ट्रक्शन कंपनी के संवेदकों को भय में रखकर लेवी की माँग करने, वाहनों में आगजनी एवं कर्मचारियों के साथ मारपीट करने वाले प्रतिबंधित TSPC के कमांडर आदेश गंझु उर्फ प्रभाकर के साथ अन्य 4 सक्रिय सदस्य गिरफ्तार@Lathkar_IPS pic.twitter.com/ugP3XSIkAv
— Chatra Police (@ChatraPolice) January 7, 2024
Earlier in another operation, the Jharkhand police had also arrested as many as five active members of the TSPC along with its zonal commander Aadesh Ganjhu alias Prabhakar Ganjhu.
The police team, during the arrest of the accused, also seized arms and ammunition from his possession. The seizure includes a 315 bore rifle, 02 country made pistols and an air pistol. The security personnel also recovered live cartridges, Maoist pamphlets and other materials from the nabbed accused.
