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Eight women among 17 Maoists killed in ‘Operation Megaburu’
“Thirteen of the 17 slain Maoists on Thursday and Friday, like Patiram Majhi alias Anal-da, Lalchand Hembram alias Anmol, Amit Munda, Rapa Munda alias Powell, Samir Soren alias Samay Soren, Pintu Lohra, Laljit, and Rajesh Munda, carried a cumulative bounty of ₹4.49 crore on their heads,” a senior official told HT on Saturday.
With 17 Maoists, including eight female leaders, neutralised during the ‘Operation Megaburu’ in the dense Saranda Forests, 13 of them carried bounties totalling ₹4.49 crore, marking the biggest anti-Naxal strike in Jharkhand’s history on Thursday and Friday, people close to the matter said on Saturday.
“Thirteen of the 17 slain Maoists on Thursday and Friday, like Patiram Majhi alias Anal-da, Lalchand Hembram alias Anmol, Amit Munda, Rapa Munda alias Powell, Samir Soren alias Samay Soren, Pintu Lohra, Laljit, and Rajesh Munda, carried a cumulative bounty of ₹4.49 crore on their heads,” a senior official told HT on Saturday.
“Apart from this, eight female Maoists were killed. Babita and Purnima Gope were area committee members (ACMs), while Somwari Purty was a local guerrilla squad member (LGSM). Surajmuni had a bounty of ₹1 lakh on her head among the eight female Maoist extremists killed.The other female Maoists have been identified as Jonga, Soma Honhaga, Mukti Honhaga, and Sarita,” Amit Renu, West Singhbhum superintendent of police (SP), told HT on Saturday.
Terror of Odisha Rapa killed
Rapa Munda alias Powell was a special zonal commander (SZC) from Totkoi village under Kevlang PS in Odisha’s Sundargarh district. He carried a bounty of ₹32 lakh, while SZC Samir Soren alias Samay Soren from Indkudi in Bankura district of West Bengal carried a bounty of ₹5 lakh.
“Rapa was wanted in 24 cases and was also involved in the recent IED blast in Saranda, in which a jawan was martyred, and a CoBRA jawan was seriously injured,” the officer said.
The SP added that over the past three years, anti-Naxal operations in West Singhbhum district have killed 42 Naxals, arrested 198, and prompted 11 to surrender. During the same period, 12 security personnel were martyred, 36 injured, and 30 villagers lost their lives. By comparison, a total of 252 Naxals were killed across Jharkhand between 2011 and 2025.
