A Jeweller was seriously injured when Maoists attacked him with sharp edged weapons at a weekly market in the insurgency-hit Dantewada district, Superintendent of Police(SP), Dantewada, Kamlochan Kashyap said on Friday. “One person has been arrested in connection with the incident, who is member of Naxal Janmilitia active in the region,” he said.
Notably, Maoists are observing week-long ‘Jan Pituri Saptah’ in the red zone and Friday was the first day of the week. The Maoists, according to experts, observe this week in the memory of their slain leaders and they also focus on new recruitment during the movement during this period. The incident happened at 8 am when the trader Manoj Soni hailing from Geedam was at his shop in the weekly market at Palnar village under Kuwakonda police station limits, the SP told The Pioneer.
A group of Naxals carrying sharp edged weapons stormed into Soni’s jewellery shop and attacked him three-four times before fleeing from the spot and leaving him critically injured, he said. Soon after the incident, police personnel who were deployed at the market rushed Soni to a nearby hospital from where he was shifted to Jagdalpur for further treatment, he said.
A hunt has been launched in the region to nab the attackers, Kashyap said. “It seems Soni would not have complied with some of the diktats issued by Naxals and probably would not have submitted extortion amount that led to the incident,” the SP said.