Determined to put an end to Maoist terror 25 villagers led by a former bandit king of the Kaimur plateau in Rohtas district attacked a Maoist headquarters on Monday morning.
They captured four Maoists and while more than 190 of them ran away.
Armed with outdated guns, villagers mounted an offensive on the heavily fortified Maoist headquarters of the Kaimur-Vindhyachal zone.
The villagers, who have been using licensed weapons for many years, formed a 40-member Kaimur Shanti Sena headed by Ram Bachan Yadav on August 15.
The 25-strong Sena team engaged the ultras in a 26-hour gun battle, which ended on Tuesday afternoon.
The team not only sent the Maoists scurrying out of the area but also forced four of them to surrender with huge cache of arms and ammunition.
A confidant of Ram Bachan Yadav told HT that the Sena team initially attacked about 20 Maoists with 14 .315 bore rifles and 11 double-barreled guns. By Tuesday, more than 170 Maoist reinforcements joined their comrades in the encounter.
Sena member Bahadur Yadav, an aide of the former bandit king, told HT from Kaimur that he had informed the district police about the encounter and asked for reinforcements.
{{/usCountry}}Sena member Bahadur Yadav, an aide of the former bandit king, told HT from Kaimur that he had informed the district police about the encounter and asked for reinforcements.
{{/usCountry}}“They promised to send us contingents of CRPF and district police from the Rohtas and Kaimur ranges along with members of the Special Task Force. But they did not turn up. Had they arrived on time, the entire Maoist command would have been netted in one go,” he said.
Shahabad DIG Sushil Khopde said he had directed police officers to reach Dhansa and help the brave villagers. “But due to some logistics problems, they could not make it. I will inquire into what went wrong,” he said.