With Sahdev Soren's death, Maoists now confined to Saranda only, claim Jharkhand Police

Ranchi: Hours after three top-ranking Maoists were killed in a firefight in Hazaribag, senior officials of Jharkhand Police on Monday said the forests of Saranda are the only location where the ultras are holed up in the state at present. Besides Sahdev Soren alias Parvesh, who was killed on Monday, only three Maoists remained in the state with a bounty of Rs 1 crore each on their heads, the police claimed.Michael Raj, IG (operations), said, “With the death of central committee (CCM) Shahdeo Soren and two others, the Jamui-Parasnath hill- Lugu Hill and the Jhumra Hills axis, which was once the hotspot of Maoists, is now completely free.”“Saranda remains the only major centre of the Maoists where politburo members Misir Bersa and CCMs Asim Mandal and Anal Da, each carrying a reward of Rs 1 crore, along with several other senior Maoists, are in hiding,” he said.Raj maintained that there are small groups in Latehar and Chatra districts and on the borders of Lohardaga-Latehar and Palamu-Bihar but they are mainly criminal gangs and would be sorted out soon.Notably, the police arrested 225 left-wing insurgents till July this year while 20 have surrendered. During this time, 29 extremists were eliminated in operations conducted by the security forces. Eleven of them were carrying a total of Rs 3 crore in rewards, the police said.The extremists included 21 Maoists, two Tritya Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TSPC) members, five Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad (JJMP) members and one People Liberation Front of India (PLFI) member.Notably, a day before killing three senior Maoists — Central Committee Member (CCM) Shadeo Soren and two others, Ragunath Hembram and Birsen Ganjhu — in Hazaribag on Monday, the security forces had on Sunday eliminated TSPC sub zonal commander Sukhdeo Yadav in Palamu district.On September 7, Maoist zonal committee member (ZCM) Aptan alias Amit Hansda, who carried a bounty of Rs 10 lakh, was killed in West Singhbhum district.On July 16, five extremists — Maoist SZC Kunwar Majhi (Rs 5 lakh) and member Baldeo Majhi and JJMP members Dilip Lohra, Samundra Lohra and Sunil Munda — were killed in various operations in the state.The security forces also killed CCM Vivek alias Prayag Manjhi, who carried a reward of Rs 1 crore, and ZCM Saheb Ram Majhi (Rs 10 lakh) on April 21; JJMP ZCM Pappu Lohra (Rs 10 lakh) and SZC Prabhat Ji (Rs 5 lakh), along with Maoist SZCs Manish Yadav and Kunwar Majhi (Rs 5 lakh each), in different operations on May 26.