Jharkhand: 32 suspected Maoists killed between January and September, says police official

At least 32 suspected Maoists have been killed in gunfights with security forces in Jharkhand between January and September this year, PTI quoted a police officer as saying.

Another 266 have been arrested and 30 have surrendered during the same period.

Inspector General (Operations) and Jharkhand Police Spokesperson Michael Raj S told reporters that Vivek alias Prayag Manjhi and Anuj alias Sahdev Soren were among “the prominent red rebels who were killed in encounters”, PTI reported.

Both were central committee members of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and were carrying rewards of Rs 1 crore each on their heads, he added.

Among those arrested were two regional committee members, one zonal commander, two sub-zonal commanders and nine area commanders of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and its splinter groups, Raj added.

Thirty suspected Maoists who surrendered during this period include Communist Party of India (Maoist) Zonal Commander Ravindra Yadav, Sub-Zonal Commander Anand Singh and Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad Sub-Zonal Commander Lavlesh Ganjhu alias Lokesh Ganjhu.

The Union government has repeatedly vowed to end Maoism by March 31, 2026.

In the neighbouring Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, more than 400 suspected Maoists were killed in 2024-’25, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai had said in June.

In 2024, 217 suspected Maoists were killed by security forces across Chhattisgarh.

Malini Subramaniam has reported for Scroll that while many of those killed in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region in 2024 were declared by the police to be reward-carrying Maoists, several families dispute the claim. The families claim that the persons killed were civilians.