Hyderabad: In a major development that could signal the end of the People’s Liberation Guerilla Army’s (PLGA) Battalion no 1, Hemla Vijja alias Aitu, the last commander of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) military unit, is expected to surrender anytime now, along with 20 to 25 of his armed militia members, before the Telangana Police.
Reports have stated that he, along with his battalion members, has already entered Telangana and information regarding their surrender could be disclosed by the Telangana Police any moment.
With Hemla and his unit surrendering before the police, it will be seen as the end of PLGA’s Battalion 1 in south Bastar.
On the other hand, Misir Besra, the last active Central Committee Member of the Maoist party, along with around 50-strong armed cadre, has been surrounded by around 3,000 security forces inside the dense Saranda Forests in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand.
According to a report of The Avenue Mail, a joint operation involving the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), its elite Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA) and the Jharkhand Jaguars has established a strict 10-kilometre cordon around the Maoist squad.
“All possible escape routes have been sealed, including key border points connecting Jharkhand with Odisha and Chhattisgarh. Security personnel have set up camps across strategic locations, gradually tightening the noose,” the report stated.
Besra, a native of Girdih district, had joined the CPI (Maoist) in the late 1980s. He grew in the ranks and has also served as a polit-bureau member of the banned outfit, and also headed the party’s Central Military Commission.
Now in his 60s, Besra has a bounty of Rs 1 crore on his head and had reportedly planned an ambush in 2004, in which 32 security forces were killed. He was arrested in 2007, but escaped in 2009 when the Maoists attacked a court complex in Lakhisarai, where he was being produced for a hearing.
Despite his family urging him to surrender before the forces, Besra has not responded to those appeals. Presently, the security forces have cut off all food and supply channels leading to the area where the Maoists have been cornered.
On January 22 this year, it was reported that 15 Maoists were killed in a fierce encounter in the Chaibasa area of Saranda forests under the name of “Medhaburu” operation, carried out by joint teams of 209 CoBRA, Jharkhand Jaguar, CRPF and district police in the Kiriburu Police Station area.
Those killed included Central Committee Member Anil alias Patiram Manjhi, who carried rewards of Rs 1 crore in Jharkhand and Rs 1.20 crore in Odisha, along with several senior Maoist leaders.
Even in the ongoing fight between the Maoists and the security forces in the forests, just a few days ago, a CoBRA commando was injured in an exchange of gunfire. He was airlifted to safety, where he has been undergoing treatment.
Reports state that it is only a matter of time before Misir Besra is caught or may surrender.
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