(Left) JAP jawans comb the jungles for rebels and Ranchi police chief M.V. Rao goes through the map of the area before the search operation. Pictures by Prashant Mitra

Patratu (Ranchi), Dec. 25: The stillness of a cold Christmas morning was shattered on Thursday when suspected Maoist rebels ambushed a police jeep in the Patratu valley, barely 20 km from the state capital, and gunned down four policemen, including the driver. Three more policemen sustained bullet injuries.

The condition of two of them is stated to be serious and both were shifted to the Apollo hospital’s intensive care unit.

Even then the police actually exulted for having foiled the extremist’s bid to snatch the firearms. The rebels managed to flee with just one firearm, the police said.

The ambush took place a little beyond Pithoria when the police jeep was on a routine patrol around 8 am. Strikes by extremists are inching closer to the state capital.

The closest encounter so far with the police was at Bundu, 45 km from Ranchi. But by striking within 20 km of the capital, the rebels sent an ominous signal. The Pithoria-Patratu road is a busy stretch in view of the thermal power station, collieries and industrial units beyond Patratu. Thursday’s audacious strike demonstrated that the Maoists are in a position to control at least parts of the road.

The ambush was executed in copybook style, conceded senior superintendent of police, M.V. Rao, preparing to launch a combing operation in the valley. Maoists had taken up positions at a height, protected by thick foliage, from where they could monitor the movement of vehicles on the winding road below. They must have planned the strike well and knew exactly when to open fire, the SSP added.

The dead include Md Aslam, the driver of the jeep, Constables Ashok Giri and Anil Oraon besides ASI Anandi Prasad Singh, all of them attached to the Pithoria police station.

Mohammad Zaheer Khan, one of the constables who had a narrow escape, recalled, “as we approached a blind turn, firing started from all the three sides. It happened so quickly and suddenly that before we could react, Aslam died on the spot. The jeep was moving slowly and Aslam managed to steer it to a rock on the side and bring it to a halt before breathing his last.”

“Before others could get down from the jeep, Anandi Prasad and Anil Oraon were also hit. Both of them died inside the jeep.” The two constables, Zaheer Khan and Ashok Giri, jumped out and tried to take position against extremists, who, Zaheer claimed, numbered 40 or more. But it was futile because they could not see the enemy, hidden in the forest over. In less than ten minutes, Giri also was brought down.

Both of them fired indiscriminately and apparently used the firearms of their fallen colleagues as well. Giri, in a desperate attempt to stop the extremists from sliding down to the road, apparently took two rifles in two hands and ran 200 yards, his guns blazing. The constables had managed to sound an alert on the wireless set before jumping out. For a change, the police reinforcement led by the SSP and JAP (Jharkhand Armed Police) jawans reached the spot, Rao claimed, within half an hour. By that time the guns had fallen silent and the extremists had retreated.

A daylong combing of the valley yielded little except a cap and a few bullets. The SSP claimed at 8 pm that the combing was continuing even after dusk. He hoped to apprehending the extremists, he said. A fuming Rao accused the Maoists of cowardice and vowed retribution. “We will flush them out of their holes and they will have to pay for this act of theirs,” he declared. All police stations in the surrounding areas have been put on alert, he said, and combing operations would continue in the entire region.

The SSP also paid tributes to the valour of constable Ashok Giri , whose brave resistance forced the Maoists to retreat, he said. The government has announced an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the next of the kin of the victims and a government job to one their family members.

The government will bear the expenses incurred on the education of their children. Direction-general of police R.R. Prasad said he would also be recommending compensation for the civilian jeep driver.