5 police personnel killed in Maoist attack in Jharkhand’s Saraikela district

Five police personnel were shot dead by Maoists on Friday while they were patrolling the area here, officials said. According to Sub-Divisional Police Officer Avinash Kumar, the five police personnel - two assistant sub-inspectors and three constables -- came under attack while patrolling the Tiruldih police station area of the district along the Jharkhand-Bengal border.

Additional Director General of Police Murari Lal Meena said the Maoists gheraoed the policemen and shot them dead.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das has condemned the attack and said the "sacrifice of the policemen will not go in vain." The chief minister also promised strict action against the Maoists.

Earlier, a CRPF commando, who was wounded in an IED blast by the Naxals in Jharkhand last month, succumbed to his injuries at the AIIMS in Delhi, an official said on Friday.

Constable Sunil Kalita, 32, was injured on May 28 in the jungles of Seraikela Kharsawan district when his party encountered a number of improvised explosive device blasts during patrolling. Kalita was first admitted to a hospital in Ranchi, but he was airlifted to Delhi and brought to the AIIMS on June 4 as he required enhanced medical care. He succumbed to his injuries on Thursday evening, the official said.

The jawan was posted with the 209th battalion of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), the elite jungle-warfare battalion of the CRPF. Fourteen other CoBRA and police personnel were injured in the incident that day.

According to the official, the commando displayed bravery as he saved his colleagues during the blast despite being grievously injured. Kalita hailed from Assam's Kamrup district and had joined the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in 2011. He was selected to join the CoBRA unit in 2016 and deployed for anti-Naxal operations in Jharkhand.

In another incident, Maoist ultras kidnapped and shot dead a 37-year-old trader in Jharkhand’s Gumla district, the police said on Friday. Brajesh Sahu was gunned down by cadres of the banned CPI(Maoist) near a school at Katia village under Bishunpur police station limits on Thursday night.

Police sources said the reason behind Sahu's killing could be his support to the Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad, another proscribed Maoist organisation. The Maoists, who had left some leaflets near the body, also torched a kendu-leaf laden truck near the school.