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UP police launch operation against Maoists

     Chanduali/Jehanabad/Patna: The police in Uttar Pradesh have launched a massive manhunt for the Maoists in jungles and their strongholds in the state's border Chanduali region after last week's attack in Bihar, the biggest and most brazen till date. Officials have stepped up patrolling along the border areas to check on those coming into the state from neighbouring Bihar to stop Naxalites or Maoists from entering into the region. Authorities have pressed into service 15 contingents of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) for combing operations in over 500 villages marked as naxal-infested. The state's Chandauli and Mirzapur areas, surrounded by the thick forests, are infamous as the Maoists front and are a part of the corridor used by the Maoists. "We are focusing on the border areas of Bihar. We are carrying out extensive combing operation. We are vigilant," said RK Chaturvedi, Superintendent of Police, Chandauli.

      Meanwhile, the Ranbir Sena, whose members were killed by the Maoists during the raid, vowed revenge on the Naxalites. "The administration has always tried to crush us. The Maoists have freed their men but they have killed our men and we will take revenge. I would like say to people that they should not give shelter to Maoists or else we would kill them too," said a member of Ranvir Sena. Elsewhere, Director General of Police, Bihar, Ashish Ranjan Sinha, said adequate security forces have been deployed in Jehanabad. "We have deployed adequate security forces and I had myself gone to Jehanabad to take stock of the situation," said Sinha. The Maoists have stepped up attacks in recent months. Last week, about 300 Maoists stormed a training centre for auxiliary policemen, killing five cadets, in neighbouring Jharkhand. They also raided the Jail in Jehanabad, freeing their fellow cadres and killing the chief of the Ranbir Sena, who was locked in one of the cells in the jail. The Union Home Ministry has estimated there are around about 9,300 armed Maoists in the country and say they have links with Maoist insurgents in neighbouring Nepal who are fighting to overthrow the Himalayan nation's monarchy.