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Jharkhand Police announce cash reward for info on last top Maoist, 5 accomplices
The six Maoists are believed to have left West Singhbhum and are holed up in East Singhbhum and neighbouring West Bengal
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Police in Jharkhand’s East Singhbhum have announced a ₹1.34 crore reward for information about the whereabouts of six Maoists, including Asim Mondal, who has a ₹1 crore bounty and is the last of the top surviving Maoist central committee members. The six Maoists are believed to have left West Singhbhum and are holed up in East Singhbhum and neighbouring West Bengal’s Purulia, Jhargram and West Midnapore.
Intensified anti-Maoist operations in Jharkhand led to the arrest of Maoist Politburo member Misir Besra, carrying a ₹2 crore bounty, and the killing of central committee member Patiram Majhi, Lalchand Hembram and three dozen Maoists, and a series of mass surrenders. West Singhbhum was declared Maoist-free in August.
Deputy police superintendent Dayanand Kumar said posters of the six Maoists, Asim Mondal, Ramprasad Mardi, his wife Mita, Mangal Sardar, Malti Murmu and Bulu Mahato, have been put up at 25 locations. “People have been requested to share any information about these Maoists with the assurance of keeping the names of the informants secret,” he said.
He added that these Maoists have gone underground. “No overground activities or movements of them have been noticed during the intensive searches...[and] patrolling for over a month now.”
Kumar said police forces of West Bengal and Jharkhand and central paramilitary forces have been searching for these last remaining Maoists. “The anti-Maoist operations will continue until all of them are captured or eliminated.”
People aware of the matter said an intelligence input suggested the six Maoists were last seen in Basadera on August 19. A joint operation was subsequently carried out there, but they could not be traced.
People have been questioned in Gurjhor, Mirgitand, and Kasidih villages about Asim Mondal’s whereabouts. A search was on in the Dalma Hills, spread over 40-55 km.
Jharkhand police spokesperson Narendra Kumar Singh said there are now only 18 Naxals at large, including Asim Mondal. He said 113 Maoists have been arrested from January to August, 50 have surrendered and 22 Naxals have been killed. He added that 111 weapons, 9904 rounds of live cartridges and ₹6 lakh in money have been seized during the period.
Union home minister Amit Shah told Parliament in March that the March 31 deadline for ending Left-wing extremism across the country had been met. Shah said 4,839 Maoists surrendered, 706 were killed, and 2,218 were arrested and jailed over the three years of heightened anti-Maoist operations.
