Security has been beefed-up in Jharkhand in the wake of three days of the bandh called by the CPI (Maoist) in Jharkhand, Bihar, North Chhattisgarh, and Uttar Pradesh against the arresting of top Maoist leader Prashant Bose and his wife by Jharkhand Police last week.
As the three-day bandh started on Tuesday, security has been beefed-up in the light of inputs of violence by rebels. So far, no untoward incident was reported from any part of Jharkhand. But security has been deployed at strategic locations and CRPF and district police carried joint area domination exercises.
However, in the urban and semi-urban areas, there was no impact of the bandh. But in the rural areas of some of the districts where Maoists have their presence the impact of the bandh was witnessed. A resident of Ranchi who was returning to Ranchi from Odisha said that the highway was mostly deserted and markets and shops were mostly closed. “I was returning to Ranchi along with my family. We were not aware of the bandh. In Kolhan I found roads deserted and security personnel were patrolling all around,” she said.
However, there is no impact on the train service but the security forces are quite watchful to foil any attempt of Maoists to damage railway tracks. A senior security official said that during the previous bandh call by CPI (Maoist) on the same issue Maoists had damaged the railway tracks.
“Necessary precautions have been taken and all security agencies put on high alert. In the Aurangabad district of Bihar Maoists blew up a mobile tower. The regular exchange of intelligence inputs is going on with neighboring states. Maoists are desperate following setbacks they have suffered,” the official said.
Jharkhand Police on November 12 arrested Prashant Bose, his wife Sheila Marandi, and associates in the Saraikela-Kharsawan district.
Other arrested Naxals have been identified as Virendra Hansda, Raju Tudu, Krishna Bahanda and Gurucharan Bodra. Police recovered four mobile phones, two SSD, one pen drive and Rs 1.51 lakh cash from the possession of Prashant Bose and his wife. These storage devices contain a lot of information and planning of Naxals.
Bose was carrying Rs one bounty on his head who was not only the top Maoist leader he was the mastermind of hundreds of Naxal incidents.
