Peeved with regular interference of the People’s liberation Front of India (PlFI) in their day-to-day life, residents of over 45 villages of Gumla district on Monday, decided not to allow rebels to venture in the area. The meeting was held at Tetartoli School under Kondra panchayat attended by over 200 representatives of these villages. The police however, are tightlipped on the issue saying they are looking into it.
“We have also received information that a meeting was held in the area and are looking into the authenticity of it. If public takes a decision, anything is possible,” said a police official in the area. The motive behind it must also be checked, he added. According to a villager, they have decided to oppose the PlFI cadres in the village and ban entry of the rebels in and around their villages by putting a notice at all the entry points stating they will be duly punished if caught venturing in the area. The meeting went on for an hour held in the evening hours.
“Presence of rebels in the area has made our lives hell resulting into increased violent activities in the area,” he added requesting anonymity. Remarkably, despite a CRPF camp located merely 3 km from the spot, activity of the rebels could not be checked so far, which are spreading their tentacles in the area. As security forces have not been able to control them, we have no option left but to oppose them with whatever resources we have like traditional weapons,” said another villager.
The police, however, believe that there is no harm in it but it is generally seen that such initiatives do not last long and most of the time prove to be fatal for the society in general. “It’s good that they have decided to oppose the PlFI rebels, but is also to be seen that the law does not get violated in the process as in such cases there are fair chances of forming a new rebel group in the name of opposing the other one,” said the official.
It is to be seen how they oppose the rebels, if such initiative is taken we will provide all support to them if asked for,” said the official. But the problem is that no one wants to get associated with us, he added.