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The Chief Minister of
Jarkhand was all set to welcome fascist Advani’s ‘rath’ into Jarkhand.
Elaborate preparations were made. But, that was not to be. A day before the
rath’s entry into Jarkhand, in a massive ambush on a huge police/CRPF
convoy, the CM went instead scurrying to the ambush site in West Singhbum,
trying desperately to boost up the moral of a demoralized police force. In what
the media has reported to be the most successful ambush of the Maoists, 27
police personnel were wiped out and another 30 seriously injured by this action
of the PGLA (People’s Guerrilla Liberation Army) forces of the MCCI (Maoist
Communist Centre of India). Amongst the seriously injured was the notorious SP
(Superintendent of Police), Pravin Kumar, who has been leading the
counter-insurgency operations in the region. With a convoy of 120 policemen and
90 CRPF jawans, the SP considered himself safe. Amongst those killed were two
senior officers — officer-in-charge of the Nuamundi police station and the
sub-inspector of the CRPF’s 152 battalion.
It was 5.30 pm on the
evening of April 7th in the thick forests of Saranda in West Singbhum district,
bordering Orissa. Since Aprils 6th the SP had been leading this huge contingent
in long-range patrolling of the forest belt. After a tip-off of Maoist movements
in the region they were scouring the forests creating hell for the villagers.
With the unsuccessful mission over, the convoy of over 12 vehicles was
returning. The location was within the 2.5 km stretch on the Gua-Baliba road.
Injured
officer-in-charge of the Gua police station, A.K.Ram, recounted the incident to
a reporter of The Telegraph (Jamshedpur edition) thus: "We were
negotiating a turn barely a few metres away from the spot where we could change
the convoy’s route, when there was a deafening blast behind the Gypsy of West
Singhbum SP, Pravin Kumar, leading the operation. The blast blew up the jeep of
Kumar’s escort party. Within a few seconds there was another blast, which blew
up the third vehicle of the convoy in which officer-in-charge of Nuamundi police
station was sitting. Before I realized another blast blew up the bonnet of my
jeep. In the meantime I saw that Pravin Kumar’s Gypsy had caught fire and
bullets rained from all sides. We were in such a position that any movement
could have resulted in death…. After nearly three hours of trading fire the
rebels started retreating. But the darkness hampered rescue operations. But by
then reinforcements from Kharsawan and East Singhbum along with a battalion of
CRPF arrived at the spot and started shifting some of the bodies."
When his jeep caught
fire, the cowardly SP, who had become a terror in the region, ran for his life.
While fleeing a bullet hit him on the hand and shrapnel from a grenade hit him
on the leg. Hiding behind a bush he deserted his forces and fled in panic. With
his group of assistants he fled up the hill. On the way a jawan was shot; they
deserted him and continued to flee. They walked for three hours to a village. In
a state of blind panic they took a cycle and went to the Karampada station. He
then jumped on to the first goods train that came, and went to Kiriburu.
Throughout his ‘escape’ he was in a state of hysteria, not knowing when the
villagers would hand him over to the PGLA. This assassin for the ruling classes,
who had tormented hundreds of villagers, killed numerous Maoists and their
sympathizers, was afraid justice would be meted out to him in the six hours of
panic flight.
The Maoists were able
to seize about 40 weapons and large quantities of ammunition. But this is not
the first action of the MCCI in the forests of Saranda. On Dec.19 2002 in a
similar action the guerrillas blew up 19 police personnel. The area was the same
— Bitkil Soya village bordering the Sundergarh district of Orissa.
Spread over an area
of 880 sq. kms., Saranda’s dense forests provides an ideal condition for
guerrilla warfare. As reported in the April 9 issue of the Telegraph, "in the
intervening period the MCC systematically destroyed almost all guest-houses in
Saranda, which the policemen were using for a night halt during long-range
patrolling". Here the MCCI had mobilized the people against the loot by
landlords, foresters, traders and won the support of the masses. When Pravin
Kumar took over as SP of West Singhbhum he had vowed to clear Saranda of
Naxalites and unleashed a reign of terror. Now he lies cowering in the hospital
with all the bravado pumped out of him. His values to the rulers can best be
understood by that fact that he was shifted to a top hospital in Kolkata in the
Tata’s private plane.
Meanwhile Advani.s
rath was also in a state of panic, attempting to leave Jarkhand as quickly as
possible. His rath was received at the Koderma border and the security
arrangements were unprecedented. It was reported that Koderma was converted into
a mini cantonment. As reported in The Telegraph: "the 30-km stretch from
Meghatari to Koderma valley to Jhumri Tilaiya, which the rath negotiated, was
turned into a mini cantonment with the state armed police and paramilitary
forces guarding every culvert, bridge and roadside and the dense forest".
Within a day it crossed over into Chattisgarh. But, in that one day crores of
people’s money was spent for the protection of one man on his electoral
campaign, spreading poison.
The fascist BJP and
their police force are arrogant terrorist as long as the people are docile. Once
the people rise in revolt, they scurry away like rats on a sinking ship. To meet
the terrotistic combine of BJP fascism and state violence, it is only an aroused
mass of people with their armed detachments that can effectively beat them back.
Had this type of strength been there in Gujarat, the VHP/Bajrang Dal would never
have dared to conduct the type of mayhem that led to the massacre of over 2000
Muslims, together with the rape and destruction of thousands of properties.
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