Stating that security forces have cleared Budhapahad, a forested area in the tri-junction of Latehar and Garhwa districts in Jharkhand and Balrampur in neighbouring Chhattisgarh, of Left-Wing Extremism (LWE), CRPF director-general Kuldiep Singh on Wednesday said that Bihar and Jharkhand can now be said to be free of Maoists.
The Budhapahad area was dominated by Maoists for the last three decades. On Monday, the government sent forces with the help of an MI-17 helicopter and a permanent camp was set up for the forces there, Singh said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah congratulated CRPF and the state security forces for this “success, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”, and said the Ministry of Home Affairs will continue the zero-tolerance policy against LWE and terrorism, and this fight will be intensified.
Addressing the media here on Wednesday, Singh said multiple operations conducted in Jharkhand over the last many years in Budhapahad area had come a cropper, as Maoist operatives had planted improvised explosive device (IED), among others, making it nearly impossible for security forces to make a breakthrough. “We are conducting operations in Jharkhand since April this year. We managed to reach Budhapahad for the first time on September 5, and an Mi-17 (helicopter) successfully landed there two days ago…” he said.
Singh said CRPF has conducted three big operations in Jharkhand before establishing the camp. “Since April, we are running…
