Security forces reinforced in Saranda forests

Security force has been reinforced in Saranda forests of West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand to flush out the dens of the Maoists completely. The reinforcement of force was felt after the rebels torched six earth movers belonging to a road construction company on November 26.

The six earth mover machines were engaged to build roads under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) which included Rs 249-crore Saranda Development Plan, launched by Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh.in December 2011.

The Union minister (Jairam Ramesh) who visited the state capital on December 9 had said that Saranda was totally under the control of the sate government.

Construction of the eleven roads had been a part of the Saranda Development Plan.

He said eleven roads are being constructed under Centre’s sponsored project to facilitate the movement of the security forces, civil authorities and the village people. He was confident that among the eleven roads construction of two roads would be completed within this month.

Saranda, a forest of 700 small hills is considered as the largest sal forests in Asia, situated in West Singhbhum district, about 300 km from the state capital.

Saranda had experienced highest level of retaliatory steps from the Maoists during November last year after killings of good number of rebels in combing operations by security forces in different parts of the country.

In order to free the Saranda forest from the clutches of the Maoists, Union rural development minister had given top priority for Saranda forest for its basic development like roads, employment, housing and enhancement of productivity to win over the confidence of the villagers.

The fresh offensive against the Maoists in Saranda forest under

Anaconda -11 has been launched last week after armed Maoists torched road construction equipments at Kiriburu block. In Anaconda -11 operation, 16 companies comprising 1,600 personnel of CRPF, Cobra,.Jharkhand Jaguar, Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) and state police force were taken active part in the operation. More personnel from the CRPF battalion will be tagged in the operation, sources said.