Overview

• Security forces confirmed the death of Amit Hansda, alias Aaptan/Upton, in an early-morning encounter in the Relaparal–Burjuwa Hill area under Goilkera police station in West Singhbhum.
• A joint team comprising district police, CRPF, COBRA-209 and Jharkhand Jaguar launched the operation after a tip-off and recovered the body during a post-encounter search.
• Police said Maoists opened fire as forces advanced, prompting a gunbattle before the rebels withdrew into the forest.
• An SLR rifle was recovered at the site, with officials also reporting explosives, ammunition, Maoist pamphlets and other materials seized.
• Authorities described Hansda as a long-active zonal commander wanted in multiple cases across several districts, with one police account citing 96 cases including killings of policemen and a 2022 attack on a former MLA.