Maoist commander killed in encounter in Jharkhand

Jamshedpur, January 3

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A Maoist commander was killed in a gunfight with security forces at the Ramtandi forest under Gorabandha police station in Ghatsila sub-division in East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, police on Tuesday.

Tudu was killed in an anti-Naxal operation that had been launched following a tip-off that some Maoists had assembled in the forest, police said.

The insurgents fired at security personnel, leading to a gun battle, Senior Superintendent of Police Anoop T Mathew, who lead the team, said. 

SP (Rural) Shailendra Kumar Burnwal said Supai’s wife, Simi Hembram, who was also among those assembled, was arrested.

Supai has been accused of having been involved in killing some local CPI (M) leaders and two policemen in Dharampur during the Lalgarh movement. 

Police claim Supai's wife, Sonali alias Simi Hembram, a resident of Lalgarh, was also involved in the murders.

A key Maoist leader who was a bodyguard to slain Maoist leader Kishenji, Supai Tudu had played a major role in the Lalgarh movement in West Midnapore district of West Bengal and carried a reward of Rs 15 lakh.

He was involved in over 25 Naxal-related cases in East Singhbhum district, including murder and ransom, in West Bengal and Odisha, Mathew said.

A self-styled zonal commander and the second-in-command of the Maoist outfit in East Singhbhum, Supai had sneaked into the district after Kishenji was killed and was operating under the armed squad of Kanu Munda.

Mathew claimed that Supai was the key suspect in the gunning down of Dhanai Kisku, the general secretary of Nagarik Suraksha Samiti, an anti-Maoist group of villagers, at Musaboni in Ghatsila sub-division a few years ago. — PTI