The Jharkhand Police and the CRPF in a joint operation in Serendaag jungle of Jharkhand’s Latehar District have killed 5 Maoists on the morning of April 4.
The police recovered three AK-47 rifles, one INSAS rifle and one .315-bore rifle, in addition to lot of ammunition and other materials, from the spot, after the encounter. The encounter is still underway.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das had a planned visit to Betla wildlife sanctuary on April 4 (the day encounter took place) to hold review meetings on Border Area Development plans and security-related concerns.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Prasant Anand said that they acted on a tip-off that a group of Maoists had assembled in a jungle and they immediately cordoned the area during the midnight of April 3.
SP added that they asked the Maoists to surrender, but they started shooting at the security personnel which forced the joint team to retaliate the attack.
IG (Operations) Ashish Batra revealed, “Jharkhand Jaguar, district police, CRPF and CoBRA battalions were involved in the encounter. Five Naxals have been killed and their identities are being established. We believe that some senior naxal operatives could have been killed.”
He further added, “Our forces have further gone in search of other Naxals who have managed to flee. We are expecting more successes.”
