A Maoist carrying a reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head was killed in an encounter with security forces in the Chaibasa area of West Singhbhum district, officials said on Sunday. The joint operation, carried out by the district police and COBRA battalion, resulted in the recovery of weapons, including an SLR rifle.

Michaelraj S, spokesperson of the Jharkhand Police and IG Operations, said, “A hardcore naxal was killed in an encounter with security forces comprising the district police and COBRA battalion in Chaibasa. Weapons, including an SLR rifle, have been recovered. Operation is underway.”

Meanwhile, in a major blow to the Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad (JJMP) outfit, nine active Naxals, including zonal and sub-zonal commanders, surrendered before security forces in Latehar on Tuesday.

In a post on X, CRPF said, “In a significant setback to the JJMP outfit, 09 active Naxals–including Zonal and Sub-Zonal Commanders and 05 carrying cash rewards–surrendered today before senior officers of CRPF, SSB and Jharkhand Police at the SP Office, Latehar.”

Twelve firearms (05 AK rifles, 03 SLRs, 04 self-loading rifles), 26 magazines, and over 1,700 live rounds were recovered from their possession. Earlier on August 30, security forces recovered a large quantity of arms and ammunition during an anti-Naxal operation in the Abujhmad area of Narayanpur district, an official said. Narayanpur Superintendent of Police Robinson Guria stated on Friday that a joint operation was carried out on August 24 by the District Reserve Guard (DRG), Special Task Force (STF), and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

“DRG, STF, and ITBP conducted an anti-Naxal operation on August 24, in which we recovered a huge amount of arms and ammunition. We conducted operations at various places in the Abujhmad area, and we found that the surrendered Naxalites were dumping their weapons. We recovered these weapons from 4-5 places,” he said.