Jharkhand Timeline 2010

January 1: The CPI-Maoist has not taken Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren's offer to initiate dialogue seriously and his appeal to them to surrender and join the mainstream has been dismissed.

Hundreds of students in Latehar District took to the streets in protest against frequent attacks on school buildings by Maoists in the State.

January 1-2: Two Maoist leaders were arrested from Gumla District in the night of January 1, Police said on January 2.

January 2: The CPI-Maoist-sponsored Jharkhand bandh (general shut down) evoked partial response with no untoward incident being reported from anywhere in the State.

January 2-3: Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren said that his Government is ready to hold peace talks with the Maoists and prompt them to be integrated with the mainstream of society.

January 4-5: Two valuable utility vehicles belonging to a contractor were set ablaze suspectedly by cadres of the People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI), a breakaway faction of the CPI-Maoist, in the Khunti District of Jharkhand in the night of January 4.

January 5: The Maoists blew up railway tracks near Mohammadpur station in Palamu District disrupting train services between Garhwa Road and Sone Nagar stations.

Two Maoists were arrested from Tirilpiri village under Bundu Police Station area, about 40 kilometres from Ranchi.

January 6: The CPI-Maoist cadres fired on a long range patrolling team at Dumarjhar village under Bhelwaghati Police Station areas of Giridih District.

January 15: Six Police personnel and a civilian were killed and one Policeman went missing when the CPI-Maoist cadres blew up their vehicle in the Gumla District.

Fake AK series assault rifles were recovered when around 100 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel neutralised an illegal arms unit in forests close to Gobardaha village in the Chatra District.

January 17: The CPI-Maoist cadres in Palamu District have threatened villagers not to hold weekly markets so as to prevent any kind of supply to SFs.

January 15-17: January 17: Mining in the bauxite-rich Netarhat plateau came to a standstill on January 17 after Maoists triggered landmine blasts and set ablaze trucks on January 15 and 16 respectively. The Maoists set ablaze a truckload of bauxite near Pakripat in the night of January 16 and triggered a mine blast near Ambakona adjacent to the Gurdari mine. The Maoists had attacked a Police picket on January 15, killing seven persons, including six Policemen and a driver of the bauxite truck in which they were travelling. Reports later said that one more Policeman was killed in the incident.

January 18: Maoist's poster messages issued by the outfit in Shikaripara block (administrative division) headquarters in Dumka indicate that they are now willing to have a pie from 'corrupt' Government officials and employees. The rate fixed by Maoists for payment of levy against income through corrupt practices ranges from INR 3 lakh to INR 1 lakh on the basis of ranks respectively held by them.

January 18: The CPI-Maoist cadres and its splinter group Jharkhand Chhattisgarh Simant Committee (JCSC) were reported to have exchanged fire for more than half an hour.

Four cadres of Tritiya Prastuti Committee, a breakaway faction of the CPI-Maoist, were arrested in Chatra District. Self-styled 'zonal commander' Lamxan Ganju and 'regional commander' Mukesh Ganju, were among those arrested from Tandua area in the District.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren said he was not against using force to curb Maoism, but maintained that if the solution lay in talks then there was no need for a "confrontation."

January 19: Villagers of the Patamda and Chandil blocks (administrative division) of the adjoining East Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan Districts took out a protest march against the Maoist bandh (general shout down) called for the second consecutive day on January 19 to exhort people not to give in to Maoist's diktat on one or the other pretext.

The Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said he hoped the State Government would give "clear directions" to the Police and local administration to "resolutely face the challenge of Naxalism".

January 19-: A college student was shot dead by CPI-Maoist cadres at Bodam in the East Singhbhum District.

January 21: A group of around 50 cadres and supporters of the CPI-Maoist poured petroleum products in machine rooms of three telecommunication towers belonging to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL), Airtel and Idea and set them ablaze in Konwai village in Palamu District.

Inspector General of Police V. Deshmukh dismissed some media reports which said the anti-Naxal operations in Jharkhand have been stopped.

January 22: Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren said he was not against the special anti-Maoist operation Green Hunt, but has also asked the Maoists to come forward for a dialogue. 

January 27: The CPI-Maoist cadres killed one person and injured two others, including a woman, at Guhnandi village of Koira panchayat under Bodam Police Station of Patamda block in East Singhbhum District.

Over two dozen armed Maoists fired several rounds in the Narasingh Ispat Limited (NIL) premises, a sponge iron company, at Chowka, around 40 kilometers from Jamshedpur in Saraikela-Kharswan District sparking panic among the staff.

January 28: Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren met Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and ruled out any difference with the Centre on the issue of controlling Maoist violence and expressed his resolve in checking the menace. He said his Government was not opposed to any offensive against Maoists.

January 30: The CPI-Maoist accepted the Jharkhand Government's offer to come to the negotiating table. Putting forth an eight-point 'wish list', the CPI-Maoist spokesman said the list included immediate end to proposed war on its own people and "de-paramilitarisation" of Jharkhand's rural parts. Gopal said all political prisoners, including Central committee leaders — Sushil Roy, Amitabh Bagchi, Mohit and women leader Shila — must be released unconditionally. He also demanded lifting the ban on the outfit and punishment for the police and intelligence officers responsible for "fake encounters".

Inspector General of Police (Ranchi Zone) Rezi Dungdung said that a major anti-Maoist operation will be launched in Palamau, Latehar, Garwah and Lohardaga Districts of Jharkhand.

February 3: A CRPF trooper was killed and two others were injured after CPI-Maoist extremists detonated a powerful landmine in the Saraikela-Kharsawan District.

Gobardhan Munda, a CPI-Maoist activist, wanted for the murder of Special Branch Inspector Francis Induwar, was arrested following a joint operation by Khunti and Ranchi police. He was arrested along with four others, including two women CPI-Maoist cadres, in Munda's house at Surakocha in Khunti District.

Three persons were arrested in Palamau District of Jharkhand for allegedly supplying arms to Maoists. The arrested men were identified as Mohammad Ismail alias Mintu, Bablu Ansari, and Muzahir Alma, all residents of Latehar District.

February 4: Suspected CPI-Maoist cadres shot dead three persons in Gumla District of Jharkhand.

The Jharkhand Police is gearing up to deploy the Indian Air Force (IAF) contingent in a major anti-Maoist offensive that is to be launched in the State very soon.

February 5: The Police detected a 10-kilogram landmine planted under a bridge and had defused it, foiling a Maoist bid to blow up Police vehicles passing that way in Giridih District.

February 6: Two CPI-Maoist training camps were neutralised by the Police after a fierce encounter at Nawagaon in West Singhbhum District. The Police seized important documents from the camps.

February 9: The CPI-Maoist cadres blew up a stretch of railway track under Nimiaghat Police station in Giridih District during their 72-hour shutdown, affecting train services.

February 10: Suspected Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC) cadres shot dead Paramanand Ojha, local leader of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), at Plandu village when he was returning home at Taresa village in Hazaribagh District.

February 13: The CPI-Maoist cadres abducted Block Development Officer (BDO) Prashant Kumar Leyak, from Dalbhumgarh village in East Jharkhand.

February 14: Sanjiv alias Somen Munda, a suspected CPI-Maoist cadre was killed during an encounter with the Security Force (SF) personnel at Jiyan in Ghatsila sub-division.

The Maoists refused to release BDO Prashant Kumar Leyak, who was abducted from Dalbhumgarh village in East Jharkhand on February 13. The Maoists said that if their demands are not met the officer will be killed in seven days. They want Maoists in jail released and villagers who worked under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) scheme be paid immediately.

February 15: The CPI-Maoist East Singhbhum-Mayurbhanj zonal committee demanded the release of 14 of its members for the safe release of Block Development Officer (BDO) Prashant Kumar Layak, who was abducted by them on February 13.

February 17: Accepting a demand of the CPI-Maoist for releasing abducted Block Development Officer (BDO) Prasant Kumar Layek Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren said that the legal process had begun to free some of the jailed persons whom the Maoists claimed to be innocent. Later in the day the Jharkhand Police admitted that two of the 14 charge-sheeted Maoists were innocent and falsely implicated.

CPI-Maoist cadres killed a doctor, Chandra Mohan Soren, and looted the house of a ration dealer, Ramdas Soren, at Kalapathar village in Chakulia block of East Singhbhum District, suspecting them to be Police informers.

February 18: One PLFI cadre was injured and four Maoists were arrested at Ramgarh, Gumla and Lohardaga Districts. The PLFI cadre was injured in a gunfight with SFs at Jamtakemtoli village in Gumla. The injured extremist, however, managed to escape along with his accomplices into the forests.

Lohardaga SP Subodh Prasad said SFs arrested a self-styled Maoist 'deputy commander' Bimal Nagesia from Kisko. Nagesia was reportedly plotting to blow up a rest house at Netarhat, the SP claimed.

Ramgarh SP Anup T Mathew said that three extremists of JPC were arrested from Bhurkunda area.

Police recovered a 10-kilogram can bomb from near a road through which they were returning after patrolling some areas under Nawadih Police Station in Bokaro District.

The Centre gave its nod to Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren for swapping some prisoners other than hardcore Maoists for the release of the BDO Prashant Kumar Layak abducted by the Maoists.

February 19: The CPI-Maoist set free abducted Block Development Officer of Dalbhumgarh, Prashant Kumar Layek, in the presence of just two journalists in Dumaria block of Ghatshila in East Singbhum.

February 20: A cadre of the CPI-Maoist was killed and another injured when a bomb, they were handling, exploded at Goriadih village in Palamau District. The deceased was identified as Satyendra Yadav, brother of CPI-Maoist ‘sub-zonal commander’ Anirudih Yadav, who had been killed in Palamau in 2009. The injured Maoist was identified as Upendra Yadav. Nine other suspected Maoists, who were accompanying the injured Maoist to a hospital, were arrested by the Police.

Meanwhile, the State Government freed two of the 14 arrested persons whose release the Maoists set as a precondition to free the abducted Block Development Officer (BDO) of Dalbhumgarh Prashant Kumar Layek. Jasmi Mardi and her father Bahadur Mardi were granted bail by a court in Ghatsila, a day after the Police submitted case diaries before the court, coinciding with the release of the BDO.

February 24: Some cadres of the CPI-Maoist, led by ‘zonal commander’ Nakul Yadav engaged in a gunfight with Jharkhand Chhattisgarh Simant Committee, a Maoist splinter group, led by Sanjay Yadav in the dense forests between Makka and Ambapawa under Jobang Police station in Lohardaga District. According to Police, there were no casualties on either side.

Two landmines, each weighing 25 kilograms, planted near Pilpillo roundabout in Bokaro District, were recovered by the Police and paramilitary forces.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren met Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and told him that his Government did not have any difference with the Centre on the issue of tackling the Naxalites. Soren said the State would "jointly" fight the Naxalites.

February 25: Cadres of the People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI) first shot and later set ablaze a truck driver’s assistant and set three trucks ablaze laden with bauxite near Amaradhalan village on Visunpur and Ghaghra national highway in Gumla District. The drivers of the trucks managed to escape. Superintendent of Police Narendra Kumar Singh said, "People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI), a Maoist [Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist)] organisation, has taken responsibility for the incident by leaving a pamphlet."

February 26: Hundreds of tribals in East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum and Seraikela Kharswan Districts took to streets demanding a halt to 'Operation Green Hunt' in the State fearing loss of life and property of innocent people.

March 3: Security Forces seized a can bomb weighing 20 kilograms and four gelatin sticks each weighing two kilograms from a spot near Leyangi Pahar under Bandgaon Police station in West Singhbhum District.

March 4: A 19-year-old girl, Anju Kumari from Latehar District, was shot at and wounded by Naxals (Left Wing Extremists) because she filed a Police case against their leader Pappu Lohra alleging rape and assault.

March 7: One person, identified as Bitu Banra (56), was killed and five others were injured in an attack by cadres of the CPI-Maoist at Dainmari village under Ghatshila block of East Singhbhum District. They also threatened villagers with dire consequences if found guilty of sympathizing with the Nagrik Suraksha Samity (NSS) or assisting Police to track down Maoists.

Six Maoists are suspected of having been killed by Police in an encounter near Tilaiya Damar village in the Latehar District.

March 8: Chief Minister Shibu Soren said the State is capable of handling Maoist menace.

March 9: Pandu Manjhi, a sub-zonal ‘area commander’ of the CPI-Maoist, was arrested from a forested area in Bokaro District. A 9 mm pistol and INR 10,000 in cash were seized from him.

Jharkhand Police launched a joint inter-State operation against the Left Wing Extremists (LWEs) from two strategic locations in the State’s East Singhbhum and West Singhbhum Districts, bordering Purulia and West Midnapore Districts of West Bengal.

Cadres of the CPI-Maoist shot dead a 22 year-old youth in Garhwa District after abducting him for his alleged involvement in an illicit relationship with a married woman.

Birsa Badaik, Block President of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) party was shot dead by a 15-member Maoist squad led by its self-styled 'commander' Jageshwar alias Debu near his residence at Nava village under Bano Police station of Simdega District.

A Maoist training camp was destroyed and 10 landmines seized following a gunfight between Maoists and Security Force personnel using Indian Air Force helicopters at West Singhbhum District of the State.

March 12: The SFs neutralised two major CPI-Maoist training camps in Jharkhand and arrested a top ‘area commander’ and 20 cadres during the joint operations that were launched on March 7 against Left Wing Extremist (LWE) hideouts along the Jharkhand-Orissa-West Bengal tri-junction. The CRPF and Jharkhand Police arrested a ‘sub-zonal commander’ of the CPI-Maoist, Bhubaneswar Mahato, along the Bokaro-Hazaribagh border. His aide and suspected arms supplier, Quttubudin, is also in Police custody. Earlier, another Maoist ‘area commander’, Pandu Majhi, was arrested near Bokaro.

March 13: The SFs decided to extend Operation Green Hunt against the Left Wing Extremists (LWEs) to four new Districts of the Jharkhand bordering West Bengal and Orissa.

Dalma Gramin Suraksha Samity (DGSS), a group formed to take on the Maoists, has sought arms training for its members.