Maoist carrying ₹1 crore bounty among 3 killed in encounter in Jharkhand

Neutralised Maoists include Sahdev Soren, Raghunath Hembram and Birsen Ganjhu, all top commanders in Jharkhand.

Three Maoists were killed in a gunfight with security forces in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh district on Monday. The early morning encounter took place in Karandi village under Tatijharia police station, following intelligence inputs.

Sahdev Soren alias Parvesh, a Central Committee Member of the Maoists was neutralised during Monday's encounter.(via HT)

Those neutralised include Sahdev Soren alias Parvesh, a Central Committee Member of the Maoists carrying a reward of ₹1 crore, along with two senior commanders — Raghunath Hembram alias Chanchal, a Bihar-Jharkhand Special Area Committee member with a bounty of ₹25 lakh, and Birsen Ganjhu alias Ramkhelawan, a Zonal Committee member carrying a reward of ₹10 lakh.

This comes a day after another Maoist was killed in an exchange of fire with security forces in Palamu district on Sunday.

The deceased, identified as 40-year-old Mukhdev Yadav alias Toofan ji, was a self-styled sub-zonal commander of the banned Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TSPC), according to PTI.

He carried a bounty of ₹5 lakh and was allegedly involved in the killing of two security personnel in Palamu on September 4.

Police said Yadav was wanted in 27 cases registered across Palamu and Chatra. His body was recovered along with an INSAS rifle, a pistol, and 146 live cartridges. The encounter broke out in a forested area between Manatu and Tarhasi during an ongoing operation aimed at tracking another TSPC zonal commander, who carries a ₹10 lakh reward.

(This is a developing story)