3 TSPC members killed in Latehar gunfight, cache of arms recovered

Ranchi: Three members of the banned extremist organisation, Tritya Sammelam Prastuti Committee (TSPC), a breakaway faction of the Maoists, were killed in an encounter with the police in Kauakhad forest of

Latehar

district on Saturday.Police said two of the eliminated extremists could be sub-zonal commander

Jitendra Yadav

and area commander Chanchal Khairwar. The identity of the third is yet to be ascertained. An SLR, magazines, AK-47 rifles and cartridges were found from the encounter site.Inspector general of police (operations) Amol Homkar said they received a tip-off that a TSPC squad, comprising several commanders like

Rakesh Ganjhu

,

Rajesh Oraon

, Jitendra Yadav and Nathuni, was moving in the Hesalbar and

Marbar

forests in Latehar to commit violence.He said a team of Latehar district police and Jharkhand Jaguar started a search operation but was fired upon by the TSPC squad near Kauakhad forest, forcing the team to retaliate. After intermittent firing from both sides for about 45 minutes, the extremists fled.Homkar added, “During the subsequent search operations in the vicinity of the encounter site, police found the arms and ammunition and also spotted bloodstains at several places indicating that more extremists were hit. The search operations are still on.”Notably, the security forces are currently carrying out extensive operations in sensitive areas of the state. Four extremists have been killed while many have been arrested or have surrendered this year.
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