The Jharkhand Police has said that a CPI (Maoist) leader carrying a bounty worth Rs 15 lakh was killed on Wednesday in a gunfight with security forces.
The deceased, identified as Ravinder Ghanjhu, was one of the “most dreaded” Maoist leaders and was “extremely active” in the Lohardaga, Latehar and Gumla districts of Jharkhand, said the police. He was killed on the ninth day of a joint operation by the Jharkhand Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), added the police.
Ganjhu, the police said, was the prime accused in an IED blast at Dhardharia in Lohardaga on May 3, 2011, in which six CRPF and five Jharkhand Police personnel were killed. On November 22, 2019, Ganjhu allegedly killed four Jharkhand Police personnel at Lukaiya More, Latehar, days after Home Minister Amit Shah had said that the central government’s law and order management had led to a drop in Naxal activities in Jharkhand.
The police added that his team was also involved in “various incidents including arson of mining vehicles, civilian killing, IED blast and huge levy collection from local contractors and mining agents”.
According to a police press release, Ravinder Ghanjhu and 30-40 cadres were noticed in the area of village Bulbul in Lohardaga district and they were planning to attack development work in the area.
“On this input, an operation was planned for February 8. Troops of CRPF, Jharkhand Jaguar and Lohardaga and Latehar district police (took part in the operation). This area has a series of mountains, dense forests and is heavily mined with pressure IEDs. During the operation, two IED blasts incidents took place in the area in which three CRPF Cobra Jawans sustained serious injuries. They were immediately evacuated by chopper to Ranchi (and is currently stable). During this operation, seven encounters took place and on the ninth day (Ganjhu was killed) and the security personnel recovered arms and ammunition and one lakh rupees and pamphlets among others,” said the press release.
The Jharkhand Police has said that a CPI (Maoist) leader carrying a bounty worth Rs 15 lakh was killed on Wednesday in a gunfight with security forces. The deceased, identified as Ravinder Ghanjhu, was one of the “most dreaded” Maoist leaders and was “extremely active” in the Lohardaga, Latehar and Gumla districts of Jharkhand, said the police. He was killed on the ninth day of a joint operation by the Jharkhand Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), added the police. Ganjhu, the police said, was the prime accused in an IED blast at Dhardharia in Lohardaga on May 3, 2011, in which six CRPF and five Jharkhand Police personnel were killed. On November 22, 2019, Ganjhu allegedly killed four Jharkhand Police personnel at Lukaiya More, Latehar, days after Home Minister Amit Shah had said that the central government’s law and order management had led to a drop in Naxal activities in Jharkhand. The police added that his team was also involved in “various incidents including arson of mining vehicles, civilian killing, IED blast and huge levy collection from local contractors and mining agents”. According to a police press release, Ravinder Ghanjhu and 30-40 cadres were noticed in the area of village Bulbul in Lohardaga district and they were planning to attack development work in the area. “On this input, an operation was planned for February 8. Troops of CRPF, Jharkhand Jaguar and Lohardaga and Latehar district police (took part in the operation). This area has a series of mountains, dense forests and is heavily mined with pressure IEDs. During the operation, two IED blasts incidents took place in the area in which three CRPF Cobra Jawans sustained serious injuries. They were immediately evacuated by chopper to Ranchi (and is currently stable). During this operation, seven encounters took place and on the ninth day (Ganjhu was killed) and the security personnel recovered arms and ammunition and one lakh rupees and pamphlets among others,” said the press release.