Jamshedpur : The police and paramilitary forces have embarked on a fresh anti-naxal operation at Saranda in West Singhbhum, the former rebel hub. The operation was started following intelligence department providing an input that an armed rebel squad of naxals had entered into the Sal reserve prior in view of visit of DGP Rajiv Kumar.
The anti-insurgency operation is being carried out at Jeraikela and Manoharpur police station area in West Singhbhum, which is about 200 Kms away from here. The police and para-military forces started an exercise of area domination by carrying out long-range patrolling of the dense forest in Saranda.
The operation involves troops and officials of central reserve police force (CRPF), India Reserve Battalion (IRB), anti naxal Cobra force, Jharkhand Jaguar and Jharkhand police. The CPI-Maoist was formed in Saranda in 2004 by merging the then peoples war group (PWG) and Maoist Commst Center (MCC). Hundreds of people including a large number of security personnel have lost their lives in several landmine blasts triggered by ultras in Saranda area in last one decade. Notably, Saranda was a liberated zone for Maoists till August 2011.
They had established the headquarters of Eastern Regional Bureau ( ERB) of the outlawed outfit. The rebels used to run more than a training camps in core areas of the forest includi Bitkelsoya, Baliba, Thalkobad , Tirilposi, Bundijora and Ratamati.
About 10,000 CRPF personnel had participated in the last operation -Anaconda– which began on July 31 2011 and continued till September 1 this year during which the ERB headquarter was destroyed and all the training camps were razed.
Spread over 855 sqkm, these villages with a population of 36,500 did not see any development ever since they came under the control of the rebels in 2000. Three banned organisations, CPI(Maoist), Kishan Krantikari Samiti and Nari Mukti Sangha, were running the show in the area, rendering it inaccessible for people and government officials.
