Parts of tribal-dominated Jharkhand suffering from the Maoist menace for long are of late witnessing a surge in clashes between security forces and the red rebels - an indication that exercises are on to get them out of their hiding places.
Jharkhand, with a population of little more than 3 crore, has 19 out of the total 90 extremist-hit districts across India. The country has 30 severely extremist affected districts and 13 of them are in this State.
“The presence of left wing extremists has now been restricted to three-four regions of the State. The anti-Maoist operation will continue. We urge them to surrender under the State’s surrender and rehabilitation policy,” a top police official, who did not wish to be quoted, said.
There has been visible reduction in Maoists’ activities in Jharkhand in the past few years due to continuous operations against them by security forces, the official said.
The State police in association with central forces have been carrying out raids to nab Maoists, as part of the ‘Operation Double Bull’, in the jungles of Lohardaga and its neighbouring districts since February 8.
Till now, nine Maoists of the rank of sub-zonal commander and area commander have been arrested, while one has been killed in 'Operation Double Bull'.
Since February 25, five top Maoist leaders, carrying rewards ranging from ₹2 lakh to ₹25 lakh on their heads, have also surrendered before the security forces.
Under the surrender policy, which was implemented by the Jharkhand government in 2010, altogether 231 Maoists have laid down arms till January this year, a police official said.
As many as 9,631 Maoists have been arrested since the formation of Jharkhand in 2000 and 931 others have been killed.
According to the police department data, 7,212 improvised explosive devices (IEDs), 1,64,143 detonators and over 5,000 different types of weapons were recovered from the red rebels since 2000.
Besides, a levy amount of over ₹10.2 crore was also recovered during the period.
Altogether 1,587 civilians were killed in Maoist violence since 2000, and as per the policy, a family member of each of them should have got a government job. However, only 794 people have got it.
An official said that giving jobs to legal beneficiaries on compassionate ground is a continuous process and it is proposed by respective district authorities on various parameters and evaluation like whether the beneficiary is a minor, the person's educational qualification and family identification.
In the past two years, over 900 Naxalites, including several top-level leaders, have been arrested.
An analysis of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data from 2017 to 2020 suggests that six police personnel of the State were killed by left-wing extremists.
Officials estimate that as many as 500 Maoists are active in Jharkhand.
Maoist movement from other States like Bihar and Chhattisgarh is another problem keeping the forces on their toes as Jharkhand shares about 600-km long boundary with them.
