A landmine weighing nearly 15 kilograms, allegedly planted by the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres to target Security Forces (SFs), was recovered in Giridih District on April 3, reports The Week. After getting information that the Maoists have devised a strategy to foil the Lok Sabha (lower House of the Indian Parliament) elections in the Mohanpur forest area, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the District Police personnel surrounded the area on Tuesday (April 2) evening, the Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of Giridih, Niraj Kumar Singh, said. The SFs recovered the landmine during a search operation and diffused it, he said. The SFs also recovered 407 bullets for SLRs and 588 bullets for other firearms, explosives and Naxal [Left Wing Extremism, LWE] literature, the SDPO said.
Meanwhile, Police recovered two banners and two posters, apparently pasted by the CPI-Maoist, asking locals to boycott the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections in Bundu block of Ranchi District of Jharkhand on April 3, reports The Pioneer. The posters, carrying messages handwritten with red ink, also demanded action against Police personnel involved in fake encounters and cancellation of all the Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) signed by the Government. Besides, the posters sought immediate withdrawal of the Land Acquisition laws in Jharkhand. Ranchi Superintendent of Police (Rural), Ashutosh Shekhar said the Police were conducting raids in different locations in and around Bundu to catch hold of men who may have been involved in pasting the posters. “We are assuming for now that the CPI-Maoist rebels have pasted the posters. This area has been a sensitive zone in the past, so a thorough investigation is in process,” he said.