'Naxals planned Dantewada repeat in Jharkhand'

RANCHI: If documents found at Maoist training camp in the Saranda forests are to be believed, the rebels were planning a Dantewada against security forces in Jharkhand. Four Maoist cadres were arrested from Tirilposi village on Tuesday. The training camps were busted by security forces at Ratamati and Norda villages during a 72-hour operation which ended on Monday.

Maoists planned to form platoons of its armed cadres. Different assault units would then strike simultaneously as in Dantewada where 76 security personnel were killed on April 6. The documents recovered suggest that Maoists were working to declare the Saranda forests a liberated zone on the lines of Chhattisgarh's Bastar and then take up community farming and other development work. The area around the training camps had been painted red. Banners and posters signed by CPI-Maoists screamed: "prohibited area..training camp in progress and trespassers will be prosecuted..."

Around eight IEDs were planted along the 8km road leading to the Tirilposi village near which the camps were being held. Each IED weighed 20-25 kg. In the forests, security forces found several watch towers on trees. From these towers, Maoists attacked the forces during the 72-hour encounter, said DIG Kolhan Naveen Kumar Singh

According to senior police officers, some senior Maoist leaders might have managed to sneak into Orissa while armed cadres mingled with villagers in the forests. Police suspect the Maoists are still hiding in the 500 sq km sal forest of Saranda. Several landmines were defused by bomb disposal squads, said CRPF DIG Bhanu Pratap Singh. During interrogation of the arrested cadres, the police claimed to have got important information about the future plans of the Maoists.