Dreaded Maoist leader shot dead in Jharkhand's Chatra district

CHATRA, JHARKHAND: A dreaded Maoist leader, carrying a bounty of Rs 7 lakh on his head and facing charges of involvement in the killing of two police officers, was killed by security forces in Chatra district's Kunda forest.

Ajay Ganju, alias Parasji, who was a regional commander of the CPI (Maoist), was shot dead in a joint operation by the Jharkhand police and the CRPF late last night, Superintendent of Police Anup Birtheray said.

Birtheray, who had earlier told reporters that the Centre too had put Rs 10 lakh on his head, later said the statement was incorrect.

Top CRPF and state police officials distributed the reward money among 55 security men who had participated in the operation, the SP said.

Apart from the body of the Maoist, a 9mm pistol and two hand grenades were also recovered from him, he said.

Ganju had been involved in about 90 incidents of violence in Jharkhand and Bihar, one of them being the killing of a deputy superintendent and an assistant commandant in 2004, Birtheray said.

He was also accused of making an abortive attack on the convoy of a former Jharkhand minister, Bhanu Pratap Sahi, some years ago, the SP said.