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Journalism of Courage
A day before Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani arrives on his yatra in Jharkhand, Naxalites set off a series of landmine blasts, killing 28 policemen — 19 from the Jharkhand Armed Police and nine from the CRPF. One ultra was shot dead in the ensuing encounter in West Singhbhum district.
The explosions are suspected to be the handiwork of the MCC or PWG ultras, targetting the police in the dense forests near Gua, 100 km from the police headquarters at Chaibasa, where SP Praveen Kumar and his men were on a combing operation. The SP, SI Ramasagar Singh, constables Akhilesh and Vishu Hembrom, DSP Anand Tigga and 15 others were injured. Kumar was taken to Kolkata for surgery while the others were admitted to a Jamshedpur hospital. Chief Minister Arjun Munda, along with DGP R.R. Prasad, flew in to meet the injured policemen at Kiriburu Hospital.
‘‘It seems the incident was triggered by MCC cadres who want to disrupt the elections. But they will not succeed in their designs,’’ CM Arjun Munda said. He, however, said the blast has no bearing on Advani’s security as his yatra crosses the state.
Kumar had received a tip on the presence of ultras in the Gua forests where he rushed with a contingent of policemen. They were moving in four jeeps and were on their way back around 5.30 pm when the Naxals opened fire and set off a landmine. Kumar, who was in a bullet-proof jeep, managed to escape.
The police convoy was a sitting duck, DGP Prasad said, as they used the same route to and fro on the counter-insurgency operation. He, however, suspected the hand of the banned PWG in the operation.
‘‘I asked the SP why he returned the way he took to the forests but he said there was no other route they could take,’’ Prasad said. ‘‘We were returning by the same road… and there was a deafening sound,’’ said constable Hembrom. The constable’s left leg was blown apart in the explosion. ‘‘We too returned the fire…SP saheb had got down from his vehicle opening fire from his revolver,’’ said SI Singh.
The strike is the biggest since the Vitkilsoya ambush on December 19, 2002, in which 19 cops were killed. Naxalites have been on the defensive since polls were called following intensive raids by the police. An MCC ultra was killed in an encounter in Lohardaga on Tuesday. The MCC retaliated, torching a jeep carrying JD(U) nominee Radha Krishna Kishore in Palamau yesterday.
