Maoist killed, 3 held in Jharkhand encounter

HAZARIBAG: An extremist belonging to the banned Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TSPC) was allegedly killed while several others were injured and three of them arrested during a gunfight between security forces and the breakaway Maoist group at Ureej forest under Barkagaon police station in Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand on Sunday.
SP Arvind Kumar Singh, who led the gun battle and the combing operations in the area afterwards, said: "A day after reports of firing in the air made by extremists to terrorise coal miners and transporters in a bid to extort money near Keredari and Barkagaon were received, we also received inputs about the presence of 15 to 20 TSPC extremists led by their area commander Diwakar Ganjhu at the Ureej forest early on Sunday morning.They were planning subversive activities in the area."
SP Singh along with a security force comprising the district police and the 22nd Battalion of the CRPF went to the forest area. "On seeing the police, the extremists opened indiscriminate fire, which was retaliated. Bloodstains were also seen at the site indicating that others were injured," Singh said.