TSPC Militant Mukhdev Yadav Gunned Down in Palamu District Encounter

Daltonganj: An extremist belonging to TSPC, a splinter group of CPI( Maoist), who was carrying a bounty of Rs 5 lakh on his head, was gunned down by security forces during an encounter in Palamu district on Sunday.

Police said their preliminary investigation revealed that the deceased could be Mukhdev Yadav (38), alias Toofan, a self-styled commander of the TPSC.The encounter took place during a joint operation of the Cobra Battalion, Jharkhand Jaguars' assault team and Palamu district police at Gorwatarn jungle under the jurisdiction of the Manatu police station in the early hours of Sunday.Talking to TOI, Palamu SP Reeshma Rameshan said, “A 5.56 Insas rifle, a pistol and other items were recovered from the deceased militant.”According to Rameshan, the deceased was one of the five to six TSPC ultras, comprising the dreaded zonal commander, Shashikant, and sub-zonal commander Nagina alias doctor, who opened fire on security forces.“They were asked to surrender, but they did not comply, and the security forces retaliated, killing the militant,” the SP said.Yadav has a total of 27 cases against him, out of which 15 are within the Palamu district, while 12 are in Chatra district.

Police said Shashikant and others managed to escape after the encounter. Later, when the security forces launched a search operation, the body of the militant and the rifle were found. Moreover, the security forces also found a pistol, three magazines, 146 rounds of bullets, one walkie-talkie set and two pouches.Police sources said Yadav was also in the squad of Shashikant, which had gunned down two policemen, Santan Kumar Mehta and Sunil Ram, during an encounter with the security forces in the Keydaal jungle on September 3.