Two suspected Maoists were killed on Wednesday in a gunfight with security forces in Jharkhand’s Bokaro district, PTI reported.

A Central Reserve Police Force member was also killed in the exchange of fire, Bokaro Zone Inspector General of Police Kranthi Kumar Gadidesi told the news agency. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma identified the CRPF member as Parneswar Koch from the state’s Kokrajhar district, and paid tributes to him.

The gunfight between the suspected Maoists and the police and the Central Reserve Police Force’s Commando Battalion for Resolute Action, or the CoBRA unit, took place about 5.30 am in the Birhordera forest in the Gomia police station area, the Hindustan Times reported.

Superintendent of Police Harvinder Singh said that the operation was still on.

The gunfight took place in the Lugu Pahar region, which is a known Maoist stronghold, based on a tip-off about the movement of suspected Maoists, according to the Hindustan Times.

This year, 21 suspected Maoists have been killed across Jharkhand in 14 gunfights with security forces , The New Indian Express reported

In the Bastar region of neighbouring Chhattisgarh, more than 400 suspected Maoists had been killed in 2024-’25, Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai had said in June.

In 2024, 217 suspected Maoists were killed by security forces across Chhattisgarh.

Malini Subramaniam has reported for Scroll that while many of those killed in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region in 2024 were declared by the police to be reward-carrying Maoists, several families dispute the claim. The families claim that the persons killed were civilians.

The Union government has repeatedly vowed to end Maoism by March 31, 2026.

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