A significant breakthrough has been achieved by the West Singhbhum police in their special operation against Naxalites in the Saranda forests. The police have apprehended two notorious Naxalites, accused of involvement in over 40 Naxal-related incidents. Weapons and other materials were seized from their possession.
The apprehended Naxalites have been identified as Sandeep alias Hidima Padeyam, a sub-zonal committee member from Bijapur, Chhattisgarh, and Shiva Bodra alias Shibu, an area committee member from Jojodih, Saraikela. During their arrest, the police recovered a pistol, 11 live cartridges, two magazines, two walkie-talkies, detonators, and materials used to make IEDs.
Rakesh Ranjan, the Superintendent of Police of West Singhbhum, stated on Sunday that this action marks a major success in the ongoing operation against the Naxalites. The operation will continue to maintain peace in the area.
He further explained that on August 30, intelligence was received indicating that top leaders of the banned Maoist organization, including Anal alias Ramesh, Misir Besra, and Ajay Mahato, along with their squads, were planning to carry out a major incident in the Saranda area. Based on this information, a joint team was formed, comprising Chaibasa police and the Cobra 209 Battalion, under the leadership of Additional Superintendent of Police (Operations) Paras Rana.
During the operation, a search operation was conducted in the forests of the Jaraikela police station area, where both Naxalites were arrested.
According to the police, a serious revelation came to light during the interrogation of the arrested Naxalites. They disclosed that Anal alias Ramesh, a central committee member of the Maoist organization, had been sexually exploiting female members of the women’s squad for a long time. Furthermore, several female members were subjected to illegal abortions.
Sandeep alias Hidima Padeyam has over 30 serious criminal cases registered against him in various police stations in Jharkhand, including charges of murder, attacks on police, explosions, the Arms Act, UAPA, and CLA Act. He has been active since 2015 and has been involved in numerous Naxal-related incidents in the state.