Naxal commander Amit Handa with Rs 10 lakh bounty killed in encounter in Jharkhand
Amit Hansda alias Aptan was killed during a joint operation of the Jharkhand Police and the CRPF.
4 min read
The Chaibasa superintendent of police had received a tip-off about the presence of Maoists in Relaparal area under the jurisdiction of Goilkera police station, another officer said.Security forces gunned down a Naxal commander, Amit Hansda alias Aptan, in an encounter near the Burjuwa hill in the West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand Sunday morning. The police said Hansda was a sub-zonal Naxal commander carrying a reward of Rs 10 lakh.
The Chaibasa police received intelligence inputs indicating the presence of active Naxal cadres in the area near Rela village, under the Arahasa panchayat, in the Goilkera block. Acting on the tip-off, a joint team of police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) launched a search operation.
According to the police, as the forces moved in, Naxalites opened fire, triggering a gun battle in which both sides exchanged heavy gunfire. Several Naxals managed to flee into the dense forest. However, Hansda was killed on the spot, they said. The police also recovered a self-loading rifle.
Amit Hansda, son of the late Guddu Hansda, was a resident of Chilgu, Todhi Tola, under Chatrochatti police station in the Bokaro district. He had been an active member of CPI (Maoist) since 2008. Over the years, Hansda had been allegedly involved in more than 96 major Naxalite incidents across Chaibasa and other districts of Jharkhand, making him one of the most notorious operatives of the banned organisation in the region.
Throughout his active years, Hansda was linked to several high-profile incidents. On June 14, 2019, he allegedly orchestrated an ambush in Kukdu, Saraikela-Kharsawan district, where five police personnel were killed, and their weapons were looted, alongside Atul, Mahadev, Ravi, Mangal, Gaurav, and 25–30 other Naxalites.
On January 4, 2022, he allegedly participated in an attack on former MLA Gurucharan Nayak in Golekera, which resulted in the death of two security personnel and the seizure of three weapons. This attack had been meticulously planned, with reconnaissance and rehearsals, and Hansda was one of the commanders of the operation, according to the police.
Hansda was also allegedly involved in the murders of several civilians accused of being police informants, including that of one Pratap Hembram of Tumbahaka village in January 2023. In May 2023, he, along with a team of Naxalites, allegedly shot and killed Charu Purti of Panta village in Golekera.
Later that year, he was allegedly involved in the killings of Rondo Surin alias Driver in Lowabera and Vaidh Supai Mutkan in Rengadahatu. In September 2023, he allegedly participated in the murder of retired army personnel Sukhlal Purti alias Paltan in Kashijoo village under the Golekera police station, allegedly for being a police informant.
Under Hansda’s leadership, several ambushes on police personnel were carried out. On August 14, 2023, near Tumbahaka, an attack allegedly led by him resulted in the death of a police officer and a jawan of Jharkhand Jaguar. In September 2023, he allegedly orchestrated an IED blast in Sarjomburu under the Tonto police station, which killed one Cobra jawan.
He also allegedly led several attacks on police informers in 2024, including the murders of Nelson Bhengra in Samatha village, Judu Sirka in Raika, and Jiten Laguri in Bandhabera.
According to the police, Hansda was part of the Chaibasa jail break of December 2014, along with several other Naxalites, and was involved in multiple IED blasts, looting of explosives, and attacks on security forces. These included incidents at Rai Sindri Hill in Kuchai in May 2019, the Baljodi arms loot (March 2023), and the Husipi encounter (August 2023), as well as the looting of explosives in Banko, Odisha (May 2025). The police have recovered many of the weapons and explosives looted under his leadership.
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