Jamshedpur, July 23: Police would set up five pickets on a 60km stretch of the NH-33 connecting Ranchi and Jamshedpur to combat Maoists.

Each picket — all would be between Chandil and Bundu — would be manned by at least 40 police commandos. Powerful transmitters at the pickets would ensure that the personnel communicate with the headquarters through radio.

One of the pickets would be set up at Rugdi village, between Chandil and Tamar. Another would be at Tamar, while the third one would be at Salgadih village, where the rebels had robbed ICICI Bank’s Rs 5.2 crore recently. The fourth picket would be at Bundu Ghati and the fifth one would be set up at Bundu.

The police are also going to introduce round-the-clock patrolling to keep an eye on rebel activities along the national highway. The patrols would be organised at strategic places in the interiors of Tamar, Bundu and Khunti.

Deputy inspector-general of police, Ranchi, Naresh Prasad Singh said they have also felt the need to strengthen security on the national highway between Ranchi and Jamshedpur. The stretch had witnessed a number of rebel-sponsored acts in the past three or four years, he said.

“But in the past four months or so there has been a surge of violence between Tamar and Bundu. Rebels have not only attacked policemen and caused heavy casualties but also succeeded in robbing Rs 5.2 crore that ICICI Bank was transporting,” said the DIG.

After the rebels triggered a series of violence at Tamar and Bundu, travelling on the stretch has become uncomfortable, especially for ministers and politicians. “We escort any minister or VIP travelling through the stretch between Tamar and Bundu. But it is not practical to provide police escort every time. Setting up the police pickets is an alternative to providing security cover all along the route,” said the police officer.

Police said the pickets would help them remove the stranglehold rebels have on this stretch, a lifeline in the state.

On an average, about 38,000 vehicle pass through the NH-33 between Ranchi and Jamshedpur everyday. Of these, 60 per cent of the vehicles are cars while the rest are commercial vehicles.

With a high number of automobiles negotiating the stretch between Tamar and Bundu, police said, Naxalites find it easy to disturb traffic in some way or the other. But after the pickets are set up the rebels would be put on the back foot in this are, police added.

On the probe into Naxalite violence in Bundu and Tamar, the deputy inspector-general said they have nabbed six suspected rebels but none of them are hardcore.