Kundan Pahan runs Jharkhand Maoist terror-extortion ring

Their demands are genuine. We are looking into it sympathetically. — B B Pradhan,IG (Special Branch)

The gruesome beheading of Special Branch Inspector Francis Induwar has magnified the trauma of 3,500-odd policemen working to gather intelligence in a backward,poorly connected state 20 of whose 24 districts are under Maoist influence.

Upon their lives and work is the constant,dark shadow of a man synonymous with Maoist terror in Jharkhand,especially in and around the area where Induwar was murdered. Several years and many alleged killings later,Kundan Pahan remains out of the police’s reach,running an unfettered reign of terror and extortion.

“In the six days that they had Induwar in their custody,the Pahan gang must have extracted a lot of information about intelligence personnel,their contacts and their work,” said a senior IPS officer who believes that the armed men who abducted and killed Induwar were led by Pahan. “We need to review the plusses and minuses of the police strategy and intelligence network,” the officer added.

According to police records,Pahan is based in the green hills and forests of Khunti,carved out of Ranchi to be a separate district in 2007. Khunti is the birthplace of Birsa Munda — the legendary folk hero who fought the Raj and agrarian exploiters,and died in prison at the age of 25 in 1900.

Pahan himself is a Munda. He is wanted in over two dozen cases of Naxal violence,including the murders of Deputy SP Pramod Kumar and JD(U) MLA Ramesh Singh Munda in 2008. Extortion is his primary business — targeting government officials,contractors and businessmen,whom he describes as capitalist agents or traitors. He is known to contact victims on their cell phones or by sending them a courier,asking for sums varying from a few thousands to several lakhs of rupees.

“Anyone who dares to question him or dilly-dallies in meeting his demands,is invariably assulted,tortured,and sometimes killed. He is completely ruthless with securitymen,” said Praveen Singh,Senior Superintendent of Police,Ranchi.

Pahan has been figuring in police records since 2005,accused of a range of crimes in at least five districts of Jharkhand — Khunti,East Singhbhum,West Singhbhum,Ranchi and Saraikela-Kharsawan. He has never been arrested,and the police say he keeps shifting his hideout in largely inaccessible forest and hill territory.

“We have been on his trail. But the problem is the people do not cooperate. Nobody is ready to divulge information on Pahan and his hideouts,” said DIG R K Mallick.

Armed Forces must not be used against Naxals,says Anthony

New Delhi: DAYS after the Indian Air Force (IAF) said it has asked for the government’s permission to shoot back at Naxalites if its helicopters came under attack,Defence Minister A K Antony on Wednesday said he doesn’t support the use of the Armed Forces for offensive action against Maoist rebels. Coming out strongly against suggestions that the Army and Air Force could be used to take action against Naxalites,Antony said the Defence Ministry wants to minimalise the role of the Armed Forces for internal security. “Using the Armed Forces for internal security is the last resort,but we cannot adopt this every now and then. We don’t support (the role of) Armed Forces for offensive action against Naxalites. We can only give logistical support and training,but offensive action is not the duty of the Armed Forces,” Antony said,speaking to reporters at the sidelines of a defence function here. ENS