A senior police officer said that the CPI (Maoist) has called for a bandh in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Jharkhand from Tuesday midnight. DIG (Palamu Division) Rajkumar Lakra told the media, “We have deployed district armed police and paramilitary forces in Palamu, Garhwa and Latehar districts under Palamu division to deal with any situation during the bandh.”
Rajkumar Lakra said that the Superintendents of Police of all the three Naxal-affected districts have been directed to tighten the security arrangements during the bandh. Along with this, it has been asked to keep an eye on railway tracks, buildings of public sector undertakings and ensure smooth movement of road traffic.
The DIG said patrolling has been intensified in sensitive areas and suspects are being detained as a precaution, he said. The three-day bandh called by the Maoists will be the second in the last three days.
The illegal organization observed a Bharat Bandh on November 20 to protest the recent arrest of 75-year-old Prashant Bose, his wife Sheela Marandi and four others by the Seraikela-Kharsawan district police in Jharkhand. Bose alias Kishan Da had a bounty of Rs 1 crore on his head.
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