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Jamshedpur, March 11 (Source: The Telegraph): The first phase of anti-rebel operations conducted jointly in West Midnapore and Purulia in Bengal and Ghatshila and Saranda forests in the Singhbhum region of Jharkhand was suspended last night with Kolhan DIG Manoj Kumar Mishra saying that the Naxalites were clearly on the defensive.
“The rebels have become perplexed. They have nowhere to go as the borders of both Bengal and Orissa are being heavily guarded. They don’t have any option. Either they have to try and flee or stay put in their hideouts,” he said.
Senior police officials said the rebels were getting ready to flee the areas of Ghurabandha and Dumaria as well as Chakulia, but due to Sunday’s operations they had to stay put.
“These options are against their interest. But we are fully prepared for any eventuality in case they adopt guerrilla warfare,” Mishra said, adding that the operations would be far more severe in the next phase.
In Calcutta, Bengal DGP Bhupinder Singh expressed “satisfaction” over the Jharkhand police’s participation in the four-day joint operation and added that the next phase would be launched soon.
“Much more than whether the exercise yielded arrests or not, it’s good that the Jharkhand police agreed to take part in the joint inter-state operations,” Singh said.
Bengal IG Surajit Kar Purakayastha explained the first phase of the operation was more “exploratory” in nature. “The intention was to ensure force co-ordination among states, familiarisation of the terrain and interaction with villagers as part of confidence building measures,” he said.
Three abandoned rebel camps were found — one in Belpahari and two in Jharkhand. The forces also came across some Maoist bunkers. A senior police officer who participated in the exercise said: “It was like a practice match before the finals. We mainly gathered some experience in operating together.”
Aerial surveillance was carried out by three helicopters mostly in Jharkhand.
Singh informed that intelligence inputs are being collected by the police on either side of the border and that similar inter-state operations with the Jharkhand police would be launched shortly.
