Jamshedpur: Security forces have intensified their surveillance and search operations in the Dalma-Galudih forest stretch after fresh intelligence inputs hinted at Maoists trying to regain a foothold in the area.Sources said Biren Singh alias Sagar, a Maoist carrying a Rs 5 lakh bounty on his head, is now active with a small squad in the forest belt, which sits along Jharkhand’s border with West Bengal.Singh, accompanied by his wife Meena and three other cadres, is reportedly camping in the Galudih forest. The squad moved in through Mirgitand and Chatri hill stretches via the Patamda-Boram of Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary (DWS).Sources said East Singhbhum district police, in coordination with CRPF, have launched patrolling and combing operations in the area. Senior officers suspect senior Maoist leaders may be exploring a shift in base from Saranda in West Singhbhum district, where anti-Naxal operations have intensified in the past two years.Adding to the concern, two trap cameras installed by DWS management to monitor wildlife movement have gone missing from the Bandargolkocha area 15 days ago. Police sources said though timber smugglers are suspected, the involvement of Maoists is not being ruled out.Maoists reportedly demanded an extortion of Rs 5 lakh from a petrol pump operator in the adjoining Seraikela-Kharsawan district recently. “We have received inputs from different sources. However, it would be premature to comment as verification is underway,” Rural SP Shubham Kumar Khandelwal said.Though East Singhbhum district was removed from the list of Naxal-affected districts in 2024, signs of possible regrouping have cautioned security agencies.Maoist influence in the remote parts of the district gradually declined after Kanu Munda, a senior operative who carried a bounty of Rs 25 lakh, surrendered with seven of his squad members on Feb 15, 2017. Before Munda’s surrendered, another influential Maoist Ram Prakash Mardi, who carried a cash reward of Rs 15 lakh, shifted his base to West Bengal. Mardi, a regional committee member of the Maoists, is an accused in the murder of former MP Sunil Mahato.
