397 Maoists arrested, nine killed, 26 surrendered in Jharkhand in 2023: Police

Ranchi: Jharkhand police on Friday said 397 Maoists were arrested, nine killed, and 26 surrendered before security forces across the state this year.

A special area committee member, a regional committee member, five zonal commanders, and 11 sub-zonal commanders were among those arrested. These individuals had a combined bounty of Rs 1.01 crore on their heads, a statement said.

Police also seized 152 arms, including 27 police weapons, 10,350 ammunition, and 244 Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) over the past 12 months.

The state police headquarters released the data on the occasion of the Hemant Soren government’s four-year anniversary.

Police said over the past four years, 1,617 Naxals have been arrested, including members from banned outfits such as CPI (Maoist), People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI), Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TSPC), and Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad (JJMP).

Since January 1, 2020, a total of 74 Maoists surrendered before the security forces, and 792 arms, including 158 police arms, and 1,882 IEDs have been recovered.

Additionally, 40 Naxals have been killed in encounters with security forces, and a levy amount of Rs 160.81 lakh was confiscated from them, according to the release.

The department also claimed to have launched a major crackdown against cybercriminals this year.

Since January 1, a total of 1,172 FIRs have been filed against cybercrime, and 834 individuals have been arrested for such crimes.

Furthermore, operations have resulted in the recovery of 1,417 mobile phones, 2,328 SIM cards, 470 ATM cards, 128 passbooks, 23 laptops, 37 cheque books, Rs 54.31 lakh, and 3,300 Taiwan dollars.

As part of actions against organised crime, 248 criminals have been arrested and 129 arms and 1,677 cartridges have been seized, according to the release.