M A I N   N E W S

Jehanabad SP suspended
Ambarish Dutta
Tribune News Service

Patna, November 15
As the head of the administration in Bihar under President's rule, Governor Buta Singh, today admitted security lapse to repulse the attack by Maoists on Sunday night in Jehanabad releasing over 340 inmates, but suspended Jehanabad SP Sunil Kumer only for the dereliction of duty.

Addressing the media here, Mr Singh said SP (Rohtas) B.S. Meena had been given the additional responsibility of Jehanabad. The Governor also said there was an intelligence input of the possible Maoist movement in the district.

The Governor said six companies of the Paramilitary force had been sent to Jehanabad, along with two helicopters, to streamline the combing operation against the Maoists and to recover the abducted Ranvir Sena activists reportedly numbering over twelve.

It is true that ADGP (Operations) R.R.Verma had sent a letter to the Jehanabad SP on November 13 afternoon, alerting him against the Maoist movement at the Nadol and Kako area in Jehanabad district.

But a copy of the letter, suggesting necessary measures against the Maoists, was also forwarded to District Magistrate (Jehanabad) Rana Abadesh, IG (Gaya) Sunil Kumar, IG (Patna) S.A. Imran among others.

The photocopy of the letter, now in possession of The Tribune, indicates that even though the suspended SP was supposed to act on the intelligence tip-off at the ground level, the other higher-ups of the police and administration, including the DM, were also aware of the same.

Sources in the police doubted whether the Jehanabad SP was made a scapegoat as a face saving plea by the Governor, after the Centre pulled up the state administration for the security lapse to repulse the attack despite intelligence tip-off.

In the letter, the ADGP said about 100 Maoists, some of them from Jharkhand, were seen in the Nadol and Kako area. Some of the naxalites were moving on motor cycles too.

Yesterday itself, DGP Ashish Ranjan Sinha admitted to the media that there was an intelligence input about the possible naxalite movement, but the police could not comprehend the magnitude of such a coordinated and well-planed attack.

The Chief Secretary, Mr G.S. Kang, and the DGP, however, had to face the heat of protest from agitating police constables and homeguards at the Police Lines in Jehanabad, who gheraoed them demanding the withdrawal of suspension order against the SP.

According to Mr Abadesh, the agitating police personnel, numbering over 150, alleged that the SP was made a scapegoat as the administration as a whole could neither comprehend nor repulse such an unprecedented attack.

Meanwhile, Jehanabad Inspector General (Prisons) A.B. Prasad was transferred by the government. State Home Secretary H.C. Sirohi said Prasad had been replaced by Mr Anand Kishor, Director, Secondary Education.

The dawn-to-dusk bandh called by the BJP and the ABVP, backed by Ranvir sena sympathisers, evoked mixed response in the area.

Mr Abadesh, said even though the bandh supporters staged a demonstration, the situation was under control. The protesters put up road blockades, damaged six police vehicles, and forced shops in the area to close down.

Meanwhile, the DGP said the state administration had decided to relaunch "Operation Siddharth" to combat the naxalite menace in Jehanabad-Gaya division.

The operation was first launched in 1989, by the then Congress government at the Centre and in the state, which was a multi-pronged strategy to usher in development in naxal prone districts on one hand and tackle the law and order situation on the other.

Sources in the police disclosed that upon interrogation the wounded Maoist activist, Manoj Kuna, now under treatment at Patna Medical College and Hospital, revealed that they had arms training in jungles of Hazaribag in Jharkhand, adjacent to Gaya district, for two months by Maoists from Andhra Pradesh before the attack.

The state administration has also appointed a two-member enquiry committee under Mr V. Jayshanker, Commissioner-cum-Secretary of Water Resources, and Mr A.C. Verma, IG (Railways) to find out the security lapses and submit their report within a week's time to the Governor.

Three Naxalites killed in Jharkhand

Ranchi, November 15
Three Naxalites were killed today in an encounter in Hazaribag but the police recovered only one body even as it arrested several persons, including extremists. “We have reports that three Naxalites were killed in the encounter at Keradari. One body has been recovered, search for the other two is continuing,” Director-General of Police V.D. Ram told medipersons in Ranchi.