Ranchi, May 24: Two Maoists, including Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad (JJMP) gang leader Pappu Lohara, were killed in an encounter between security forces and Maoists in Jharkhand’s Latehar district on Saturday morning.
JJMP is a splinter group of CPI Maoist.
One Maoist and one policeman were also injured in the encounter. Officials said injured policeman Awadh Singh has been airlifted to Ranchi for better treatment.
According to police, the Maoists killed in the encounter include Pappu Lohara, who had a reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, and the outfit’s sub-zonal commander Prabhat Ganjhu, who had a reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head. The joint operation was carried out by the Central Reserve Police Force and Jharkhand Police in the Ichabar forest area of Latehar police station area, a senior official said.
Palamu Deputy Inspector General of Police YS Ramesh informed media that two Maoists were killed in the encounter. Police have recovered their bodies. Ramesh confirmed that the bodies of Lohara and Ganjhu have been recovered from the encounter site.
He said that another wanted Maoist member, Ashish Kumar, who was injured in this operation, has been arrested. An INSAS rifle has also been recovered during the search.
Officials said that on receiving secret information about the presence of Lohara and his associates in the forest, a team led by Latehar SP Kumar Gaurav launched a search operation.
A police officer involved in the operation said that as soon as the Maoists saw the security forces, they started firing. In retaliation, police team also opened fire.
As per police records Lohara had 98 cases like murder, ransom and arson registered in different police stations in several districts including Latehar, Lohardaga, Gumla, Chatra and Palamu. At the same time, 15 criminal cases were registered against Prabhat Ganjhu.
Both were also accused of being involved in the murder of Jharkhand Jaguar Deputy Commandant Rajesh Kumar during an operation in September 2021. Palamu Inspector General of Police (IG) Sunil Bhaskar termed the operation as a major success for law and order and appealed to the remaining Maoists to surrender taking advantage of the state government’s surrender policy.
