Jamshedpur, Aug. 8: The apparent pause in anti-Maoist operations in Ghatshila sub-division has helped the rebels consolidate their base, intelligence reports suggest.

According to sources, no major offensive has been carried out against the Maoists in the region in the past seven months even as operations are on at Saranda forests in West Singhbhum district. As a result, the Ultra-left extremists are freely moving in places like Ghatshila, Dumaria, Dhalbhumgarh and Ghurabandha. In fact, the Maoists also observed “martyrs’ week” from July 28 to August 3 at a number of areas.

This is not all. Intelligence inputs further say that the villagers are being persuaded to support the banned outfit. Meetings are being regularly held in villages with more and more youths being convinced to join the organisation.

Notably, armed squads of Kanhu Munda and Madan Mahto operate in areas like Ghurabandha, Dhalbhumgarh, Chakulia, Dumaria, Ghatshila and Musaboni in Ghatshila sub-division. The squad headed by Munda is active in most of these areas while the one led by Mahto concentrates more on places bordering Bengal.

However, deputy inspector-general (DIG) of Kolhan Naveen Kumar Singh stressed that anti-insurgency operations were being indeed carried out. “We had conducted an operation during the recently held Jamshedpur Lok Sabha by-election. At present, some areas of Ghurabandha block are being scanned by security forces as we have news that the rebels had held meetings there to commemorate ‘martyrs’ week’,” he said.