One constable of the Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) unit, Rajesh Kumar, was killed while an inspector-ranked officer, Bhupendra Kumar, was injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast triggered by the cadres of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) during an anti-Naxal [Left Wing Extremism, LWE] operation in the hilly forest area between Tumba Haka and Sarjamburu villages under the Tonto Police Station limits in West Singhbhum District of Jharkhand on September 28, reports The New Indian Express. According to the Police, the blast took place at about 12.15 p.m. [IST] at a forest stretch between Tumba Haka and Sarjamburu villages in the Kolhan Forest division while the Security Forces (SFs) were defusing the three IEDs recovered from a bush. Superintendent of Police (SP) Ashutosh Shekar said before falling victim to the explosion, the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) had already destroyed two IEDs of five to eight kilograms each, 240 spikes, and 31 spike holes dug up by the Naxals targeting the SFs. SP Shekar said that the state Police along with the SFs are continuously conducting operations to neutralise Maoist squads led by top Maoists including – Misir Besra, Patiram Majhi alias Anal-da alias Ramesh, Ajay Mahato, Anmol-da, Mochu, Chaman, Sagen Angariya, Kande and Ashwin, who have been active in the hills and jungles of Tumba Haka, Sarjamburu, Patatorob and Anjedbera villages.
A Naxalite [Left Wing Extremist, LWE] of the Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC), a splinter group of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), identified as Nitesh Kumar Mehta, who was wanted in several cases, was arrested from the Barkagaon Police Station area in Hazaribagh District of Jharkhand on September 27, reports The Hindu. Mehta was arrested at his sister's house, where he came to celebrate Karam Puja, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Amit Kumar Singh said. Mehta, wanted in more than six cases, including those of extortion, was a terror in Chatra and Hazaribagh districts and was on the run for the last three years, SDPO Singh said, adding that a court sent him to judicial custody on September 27.