Suspected Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres set ablaze one tractor and JCB machine of a company engaged in road construction in Kutipi of Gududi area in Podahata forest of Jharkhand bordering Rourkela on September 15 reports Odisha Sun Times. According to sources, the unidentified miscreants riding two motorcycles visited the road construction company’s camp and asked the road construction company staffs present at the camp for petrol. Later, they set on fire the two vehicles of the company. Though there is no clarity on involvement of the Maoist rebels in the incident, some posters opposing the road construction were found from the spot. Jharkhand Police have launched an investigation in the incident. Significantly, some Maoists had torched several vehicles of the same company previous year.
Meanwhile, a wanted cadre of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) was arrested in a joint operation by the state Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) from Jajwaria village in Chatra District of Jharkhand on September 17 reports India TV. The Maoist was identified as Shekahra Ganju and according to Police, he was carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head and was said to have been running a terror network in three Districts of the state.
Earlier, in a separate incident, a cadre of the People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI), a splinter group of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), was arrested during a raid at Karimandih village under Haidar Nagar Police station limits in Palamu District of Jharkhand on September 16 reports The Week. The cadre was identified as Mukesh Kumar Yadav alias Toofan, a resident of Lesli Police station area of the District. The Police recovered a rifle and a mobile phone from his possession. According to the District Superintendent of Police (SP) Ajay Linda, “Mukesh is a self-styled commander of the PLFI and is wanted in six Naxalite [Left Wing Extremist, LWE] related cases, and Police had been looking for him for the past four years”.
Separately, for the first time, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) released a list of 21 wanted Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) in Jharkhand reports The New Indian Express on September 16. The list includes name of the People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI), a splinter group of CPI-Maoist, Chief Dinesh Gope, Central Committee Member of CPI-Maoist Patiram Manji alias Tufaan and several others from Maoist splinter groups who have been on the run for long. Also, the list provided addresses and possible locations along with the cadres’ photographs so that they could be identified easily. Before releasing the list, the NIA had confiscated their properties.