In a landmark victory for security forces, Jharkhand’s fight against Naxalism achieved a major breakthrough in West Singhbhum’s Saranda region near Chaibasa. A fierce encounter left 15 Naxals dead, including the high-profile Anl Da alias Patiram Manjhi, a Rs 1 crore reward Maoist leader with 149 cases against him.
Patiram Manjhi, also known as Tufan or Patiram Marandi, hailed from Giridih’s Piratand area. Active since 1987, he dominated Piratand, Tundi, and Topchanchi until 2000. Later transferred to Jamui in Bihar, he was once arrested there. As a key strategist in the CPI (Maoist) central committee, Anl Da orchestrated numerous attacks, including multiple IED blasts in Chaibasa from 2022 to 2025.
His rap sheet is staggering. In November 2005, he masterminded an assault on Giridih’s Home Guard Training Institute, killing three guards and one civilian while looting 183 rifles, two revolvers, and 2,000 live cartridges. March 2006 saw him lead an attack on a CISF camp in Bokaro’s Khash Mahal, martyring five district force personnel and injuring two CISF jawans, with barracks blown up using explosives.
The violence continued. In June 2018, a clash in Kuchai’s Grag-Kasrouli hills killed one policeman and one CoBRA commando. May 2019 brought an IED ambush on Hudangda police picket near Rhesuru Dam in Kharsawan, gravely wounding two jawans. That same month, during a Raysidiri operation in Kuchai, he struck with IEDs, injuring 15 CoBRA and JJ personnel.
Anl Da was the kingpin behind the Kukdu Haat market massacre, where five policemen on law-and-order duty were slaughtered and disarmed. November 2019 elections saw challenger bomb attacks on police in Raysindri hills. April 2020 featured IED and bomb blasts near Kantagonda on a Rajiyama picket patrol. March 2021’s Lonji blast in Toklo killed three JJ jawans during a shift change. As recently as May 2025, he looted five tons of explosives from Odisha’s Kebalang area.
CRPF IG Saket Kumar Singh and Jharkhand Police IG Operations Dr. Michael Raj S briefed the media at police HQ on Operation ‘Megaburu’s’ success. They urged remaining Naxals to surrender, signaling a new phase in Jharkhand’s push for a Naxal-free state.