Key Points

“Battalion and the state police achieved a major success in an anti-Naxal operation. In this operation, the notorious Naxal commander with a Rs 1 crore bounty, CCM Sahdev Soren alias Parvesh, has been eliminated,” said HM Shah in a message on X.

“Additionally, two other bounty Naxals — Raghunath Hembram alias Chanchal and Birsen Ganjhu alias Ramkhelawan — have also been gunned down by the security forces,” he said.

Following this operation, Maoism has been completely eradicated from the Bokaro region in northern Jharkhand. Soon, the entire country will be free from the problem of Maoism, he said.

Earlier, in a major blow to the Maoist insurgency, three Maoists were killed during a joint operation by police and security forces in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh district on Monday.

The encounter took place around 6 A.M. in the Panitiri jungle under Girhor police station limits, close to the Bokaro-Giridih border. The Security forces recovered the bodies of Soren and two other Maoists following the exchange of fire.

According to officials, a joint team of CoBRA Commandos and police from Giridih and Hazaribagh confronted the CPI (Maoist) group led by Soren.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) said that troops of 209 CoBRA and local police launched an operation during which "an exchange of fire broke out between troops and Maoists. The troops neutralised three Maoists and recovered three AK-47 rifles."

The CRPF confirmed the identities of those killed in the operation. Sahadev Soren was a Central Committee Member with a bounty of Rs 1 crore on his head. Raghunath Hembram was a Special Area Committee Member, carrying a bounty of Rs 25 lakh, while Birsen Ganjhu was a Zonal Committee Member with a bounty of Rs 10 lakh on his head. All three individuals were neutralised.

Officials said no casualties were reported among the security personnel during the operation.

- IANS