The police carry the body of a Naxalite at Pokharia in Dumka on Saturday. Picture by Mani Keshri

Pokharia (Dumka), April 26: “The bullet could have hit me first, but I don’t know how its direction changed and hit Samshad Ansari’s jaw,” recalled Chandan Kumar, deputy superintendent of police, headquarters. Constable of Shikaripara police station Md. Salim and Kumar were recounting the early-morning Maoist assault in the hills of Pokharia to D.K. Pandey, IG-operation and R.K. Mallik, state police spokesperson.

While Kumar was lucky to have survived, Shikaripara officer-in-charge Ansari and constables Ramdayal Paswan and Nasir Ansari fell to Maoists bullets.

According to Kumar, the team under his leadership had first tried to surround the house of Baramajhala Deheri, where the Naxalites had taken shelter.

“Just before entering the house, Ansari had nabbed two young girls on the basis of suspension. While moving towards the house, he had taken position behind a small wall of boulders located on a low land in front of the house. I was next to him when the bullet hit his jaw. I had felt the bullet flying past me and immediately asked Ansari to jump over, but he did not listen and tried to fire back. He fell on the ground as several bullets were pumped from the house,” said Kumar.

Before the incident, Md. Salim had entered the house and found some people sleeping. “I ordered them to stand up pointing my gun at them,” said Salim, adding, “but the area commander, Manoj Deheri, sounded the alarm and three-four persons suddenly jumped towards their weapons.

“I was pushed aside as the Maoists started firing indiscriminately. I managed to flee the room while firing back at them and also saw Samshad fall prey to a bullet. But I was helpless,” he recalled.

“We raided the village after wandering in the area the entire night. But we could not imagine that the Maoists would be so well-equipped neither,” he said.