244 Maoists, 154 gangsters arrested by Jharkhand Police in 2024
Ranchi (PTI): The police have claimed that it made significant strides in addressing the menace of Left Wing extremism in 2024, arresting 244 Maoists, including key leaders.
Among those arrested were one Special Area Committee (SAC) member, two zonal commanders, six sub-zonal commanders, and six area commanders.
IG (Operations) AV Homkar said that the police picked up SAC member Jaya Di alias Chinta, Shambhu Ganjhu alias Ravi Ganjhu, a zonal commander with a Rs 10 lakh reward on his head, and Sitaram Rajwar alias Raman Rajwar, also carrying a Rs 10 lakh bounty.
Several extremists from the Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC), a splinter group of the CPI (Maoist), were also arrested, including Adesh Kumar Ganjhu, Sabita Sharma alias Raja Ji, and others, carrying a total reward of Rs 36 lakh, he said.
The police also arrested 154 members of various criminal gangs during the year.
"In 2024, 24 Maoists surrendered, including four zonal commanders, one sub-zonal commander, three area commanders, and one member," he said adding that nine Maoists were killed in police encounters, while the authorities recovered 123 weapons, including 35 looted police firearms, seven standard weapons, and 81 locally made firearms.
Police also seized 246.40 kg of explosives, and Rs 13.39 lakh collected as levy. Furthermore, 239 Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) planted by Maoists were destroyed by the police, a statement from police headquarters claimed.
On the cybercrime front, Jharkhand Police registered 1,295 cases, leading to 971 arrests.
The authorities recovered 2,118 mobile phones, 2,905 SIM cards, 606 ATM cards, 165 bank passbooks, and 52 laptops, among other items.
"Cash recoveries amounted to Rs 8.17 crore, and Rs 77.20 lakh was frozen in bank accounts. A significant tool in combating cybercrime was the Pratibimb App, which helped register 274 cases and led to the arrest of 898 individuals. Through these efforts, Rs 66.43 crore was frozen in bank accounts, and Rs 3.27 crore was returned to victims," the statement said.
In anti-drug operations, police arrested 1,362 individuals involved in drug-related offences.
Police claimed the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) also made strides, arresting four operatives linked to Al Qaeda.
Along with these arrests, ATS seized Rs 1.22 crore in cash and Rs 15 lakh worth of jewellery.
Homkar said Jharkhand Police also focused on the well-being of their personnel and organised Public Grievance Resolution Programmes across all districts.
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Bihar: Over 150 children fall ill after consuming 'mid-day meal' in Saharsa
Saharsa (PTI): More than 150 children were taken ill after allegedly consuming food that was part of the mid-day meal in a school in Bihar’s Saharsa district, a senior official said on Thursday.
The incident occurred at a middle school in Baluaha village of the district.
The official said that 115 children were undergoing treatment at the Sadar Hospital, while around 50 students were admitted to Mahishi Public Health Centre.
“We received information that several children fell ill after consuming the mid-day meal in Baluaha. The children were initially treated at the primary health centre, but later, many were referred to the Sadar Hospital,” Saharsa District Magistrate Deepesh Kumar told reporters.
“According to doctors, the health condition of the children has improved, but they will be kept under observation for some time. There is no need to panic. Some kids are having mild fever. They are being treated accordingly,” Kumar said.
Meanwhile, family members of some children claimed that a snake was found in the container in which cooked pulses was stored at the school.
Of the 545 students present in the school, 200 had already eaten their meals by the time the snake was spotted, and later complained of stomach ache and vomiting, they said.
Regarding the claims, the DM said food samples have been collected from the school.
“We will be able to comment on this only after the results of the tested samples arrive,” he said.
