Top woman Maoist carrying Rs 15 lakh award killed: CRPF IG

Patna, May 19: The woman Maoist killed by security forces in an encounter on the night of May 16 has been identified as Sarita alias Urmila Ganjoo, a senior CRPF officer said today.

The top ranking Maoist operative was the wife of Sunil Ganjoo and a resident of Putki village under Simaria police station of Chatra district in Jharkhand, CRPF IG (Bihar-Jharkhand) Arun Kumar told PTI.

Urmila was member of the Bihar-Jharkhand Special area committee of the banned outfit and wanted in several cases and had carried a reward of Rs 15 lakh, he said. The INSAS recovered from her after the encounter was looted in 2009 from a guard posted at SBI bank branch at Bermo in Jharkhand, the CRPF IG said adding, a police vehicle was also blasted by them in the attack on the bank.

One woman Maoist operative was killed and another injured in an encounter with a team of CRPF and Bihar police on the night of May 16 during an anti-naxal operation, Kumar said. Eight others were arrested by the security forces in the district, he said.

Acting on a tip off that some Maoists had gathered near Tiletand locality to collect Rs two crore from a construction company, four companies of CRPF's COBRA battalion rushed there on May 16 and in the ensuing encounter, which continued throughout the night, a woman Maoist was killed and another one was injured, Kumar added.

PTI