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A high-ranking Central Committee member of the CPI (Maoist), identified as Patiram Majhi alias Anal da, was shot on Thursday during a major joint anti-Naxal operation, Meghaburu. Security officials confirmed that the encounter resulted in the death of the most wanted Naxalites.
Operation Meghaburu was launched on Thursday by 209 CoBRA, Chaibasa district police, and Jharkhand Jaguar in the Saranda forest. During an intense gunfight, Patiram Majhi alias Anal da, who carried a reward of 1 crore on his head in Jharkhand, was killed alongwith 14 other Maoists. Anal was a Central Committee Member (CCM), the highest decision-making body of CPI (Maoist), and had as many as 149 cases in Jharkhand. On Friday, during the search operation, intermittent firing continued. Later, two more bodies were recovered taking total toll to 17. Security forces are considering this operation a huge success. SDPO (Kiriburu) Ajay Kerketta said, "The encounter, which lasted for almost two days, has stopped now, but the search operation will resume in daylight." Meanwhile, on Friday Security forces recovered "one more body of a Naxal" as the encounter, which erupted on Thursday in the area of Saranda Forests, Chaibasa, entered its second day, police said. Earlier in January, six Naxals were killed in an encounter in Bijapur district under Bastar range, officials said. On January 20, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing BJP party workers at the BJP national headquarters, raised concerns over the growing influence of urban Naxalism. Following that, nine Maoists carrying a total bounty of 47 lakh surrendered in Chhattisgarh along with a cache of weapons and equipment, Odisha Police said on Friday. Following the surrender, the Nawarangpur district of Odisha has been declared free from Naxal activity. According to police, the surrendered Maoists included key leaders from the Nagri Area Committee, Sitanadi Area Committee and Mainpur LGS of the Odisha State Committee under the Dhamtari-Gariaband-Nuapada division. They were active in the Nawarangpur district of Odisha and the Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh under the Odisha State Committee of CPI (Maoist). The surrendered cadres handed over two INSAS rifles, two SLR rifles, one carbine, one bharmar gun, magazines, ammunition and a radio set, police added. (ANI)
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