Latehar/Hazaribaghi: As the anti-Maoist
operations cover new districts in Jharkhand, the ultras on Friday
urged the government to stop hounding them as they were
"patriots" fighting against the capitalists.
"We are patriots of the country. We are fighting
against the capitalists and their associates who are aiming at
acquiring land of the poor. Stop this killing of patriots,"
Rajdeo, CPI (Maoist) spokesman of the 'Bihar-Jharkhand-North
Chhatisgarh Simant Committee' said in a press release in
Latehar.
Meanwhile, police have decided to extend the
operations in three more districts-with one platoon of India
Reserve Battallion (IRB) being deployed on the borders of
Hazaribagh-Chatra.
"The forces have been instructed not only to catch the
Maoists but also the members of splinter naxal groups like
Jharkhand Prastuti Committee and the Tritiya Prastuti
Committee, who are very active and have stalled the
construction work of the ongoing
Koderma-Hazaribagh-Barkakana-Ranchi new broad guage railway
line after not getting extortion money," police said in
Hazaribagh.
Jharkhand launched anti-Maoist operations in East and
West Singhbhum districts on March 7 and the rebels retreated
from those areas. The security forces had busted bunkers,
arrested some Maoists and seized a huge cache of arms and
explosives during the operation.
PTI
First Published: Friday, March 19, 2010, 23:18