Former Maoist to become policeman in Jharkhand

RANCHI: A former hardcore Maoist Sitaram Munda, who spent several years in CPI(Maoist), has been recommended for a regular job in Jharkhand police. A recruitment board consisting of Ranchi DIG R K Dhan, JAP DIG Sudhir Kumar Jha and SSP Ranchi Kuldeep Dwivedi examined his reformed character and recommended his appointment as constable.
Now, Munda would be working with the same cops who used to chase him in Maoist dominated forests of Ranchi.He surrendered in 2010 when he came out of his romantic illusions that equality in countryside and a better future for the poor farmers can follow through the barrel of a gun.
“After surrender, he was sent to jail. He faced the trial and was finally acquitted in all the cases. There are no pending cases against him,” DIG R K Dhan told TOI.
The board's decision is set to transform the life of the former Maoist who worked in the squad of dreaded Maoist commander Kundan Pahan, among the top wanted Maoists of Jharkhand. Munda, like many other, did not know anything about the Leftwing extremism other than the fact that it is a class struggle to ensure that the land belongs to the tiller.
In 2014, five former Maoists were recruited into the state police and are now working as regular constables. “The recruitment of Munda is expected to send a message to the Maoists who still harbour romantic illusions of the possibility of overthrowing the state with the help of a gun,” said SSP Kuldeep Dwivedi.
A police officer said in 2008 that Munda with a squad of Maoists had killed two civilians in rural Ranchi. “He was involved in several encounters with police in Bundu where he was based,” said a police officer.
A job in police will guarantee a regular income and a sense of peace which Munda could not imagine while working for the Maoists. The state government’s Maoist surrender policy offers extremists financial, legal and social support besides free education for children and land.