Latehar police recover body of the ultra killed in the encounter
Ranchi, Sept 29: Chief Minister Hemant Soren and various police officers, including DGP Neeraj Sinha paid homage to the martyred Deputy Commandant Rajesh Kumar on Wednesday at Jharkhand Jaguar’s headquarters at Tender Village in Sukurhuttu, Ranchi.
The Chief Minister said the state has lost the deputy commandant during a search operation. “May God give peace to the soul of the brave martyr and give strength to the bereaved family to bear the grief,” Soren said in a tweet.
On the occasion, Ranchi MP Sanjay Seth, chief secretary Sukhdev Singh, DGP Neeraj Sinha, principal secretary to Chief Minister Rajiv Arun Ekka, secretary to Chief Minister Vinay Kumar Choubey and many other officers also paid floral tributes to martyr Commandant Rajesh Kumar.
After paying homage, the Chief Minister met the wife and son of martyr Commandant Rajesh Kumar and other relatives and consoled them.
Later the body of the martyred police officer was sent to his home district Munger in Bihar for last rites.
Significantly, Deputy commandant of Jharkhand Jaguar (JJ) Rajesh Kumar succumbed to bullet injuries he suffered during an encounter with an extremist group in Nawagarh forests of Latehar district on Tuesday afternoon. He was 35.
One of the rebels, affiliated to a CPI(Maoist) splinter group, Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad (JJMP), may have also died, police sources said. The body was recovered on Wednesday morning by the Latehar police during the search operation along with arms.
JJ is an assault force of the state police. According to sources, the encounter occurred around 3.30pm. Kumar, who was grievously hurt, was airlifted to Ranchi’s Medica hospital for treatment in the evening. He succumbed to injuries later.
ADG operations of the state police Sanjay Anand Lathkar confirmed the news about the encounter.
Deputy commandant Kumar was from Munger in Bihar and belonged to the BSF’s 84 battalion. He was on deployment in Jharkhand Jaguar, also known as special task force (STF), since 2018.
“Latehar police were tipped off about a large number of JJMP rebels assembling in Nawagarh jungles and that they were planning something big. Based on the information, an operation was launched jointly by JJ, district police and CRPF. The rebels open fired, thereby forcing security forces to launch a counteroffensive in which a deputy commandant was injured (he succumbed to injuries later in hospital). But our boys also managed to kill one naxal,” said an official of JJ.
He added that the security forces recovered several arms and ammunition including an AK-47.
The incident occurred two days after Union home minister Amit Shah held a meeting of all naxal-affected states to take stock of the situation. At the meeting, Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren mentioned that extremism was on the wane, limited to certain pockets of the state. He also demanded more funds from the central government for left wing extremist areas.
