CHAIBASA — An encounter broke out between security forces and Maoists in a dense forested pocket of Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district on Tuesday morning, senior police officials confirmed. No casualties or injuries were reported during the brief exchange of fire, which took place in the Porahat forest jurisdiction near Kedabir village, falling under the administrative limits of the Sonua police station.
According to West Singhbhum Superintendent of Police Amit Renu, a joint team of security personnel was conducting a routine combing and area-domination operation in the difficult forest terrain when the confrontation occurred. Upon spotting the approaching patrol, armed Maoists opened fire indiscriminately, prompting immediate and calibrated retaliatory firing from the security forces. Following a brief gunfight, the rebels retreated deeper into the thick forest cover to evade capture.
The Superintendent of Police stated that a few active Maoist squads continue to operate within the district, including a group led by their top commander, Misir Besra, a CPI (Maoist) politburo member who carries a government bounty of ten million rupees on his head. Following the retreat of the insurgents, the administration deployment was reinforced, and an intensive search and tracking operation remains underway in the region to flush out the remaining cadres.
