Maoist violence on the decline in Jharkhand, say state police

Ranchi, Aug.9 (ANI): With security personnel carrying out an anti-Maoist drive for a month, a decline in the number of Maoist attacks in Jharkhand has been observed in comparison to the same period at this time last year.

"Maoist infested State of Jharkhand has seen a fall in number of attacks as compared to the last year. There has been a decline in Maoist violence in Jharkhand state," a top police official said.

According to police statistics, there have been 228 Maoist attacks till end of July 2009, as compared to the 245 incidents recorded in 2008 in the same period.

Police say that as many as 20 most-wanted Maoists have been killed in 61 encounters besides 261 Maoists being arrested till July this year.

"The success against the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) is a result of credible intelligence," said S. N. Pradhan, Inspector General of Police in Jharkhand.

"We have got some big success owing to the intelligence information. The inputs provided to us were accurate about people and places. Action based on the intelligence helped us to get success against Maoists," added Pradhan.

Police along with armed constabulary and paramilitary forces have launched operations to flush out the Maoists flush out from their bastions. They claim to have foiled many attacks of the 'Red Army.'

"To be on the safer side, we deploy more security personnel in places which are more prone to Maoist attacks such as government offices, railways or main highways. At the same time, we deploy them in remote Maoist areas. This has helped us to understand the strategy Maoists follow in attacking and the kind of places they target. However, we are very careful as Maoists change their strategy frequently and we have to adapt accordingly," said Pradhan.

Jharkhand is one of the worst affected of nine States facing more than three-decade-old Maoist revolt.

The Maoists have increasingly escalated to their rural eastern strongholds and are active in nearly a third of the country's 630 districts, up from a presence in less than a tenth of them in 2001, government and independent data shows.

In June, Maoist rebels declared a "liberated zone" in West Bengal state, close to the city of Kolkata, sparking unease among investors in the communist-ruled state.

A large number of paramilitary forces are supporting the State police in the anti-Maoists driver in West Bengal's Lalgarh area. (ANI)