Incidents triggered by Left Wing Extremist (LWE) groups have witnessed a sudden surge since the conclusion of the 2019 Assembly polls in State. While the CPI (Maoist) – the oldest and the most dreaded LWE group in Jharkhand – has made its presence felt in parts of the bordering areas of Hazaribag and Chatra, a splinter outfit has gone on a rampage in the highly-sensitive Palamu region.
On Thursday late evening, around seven armed insurgents torched at least six vehicles used for construction of a bridge over Damodar river in Hazaribag, police said. Meanwhile, rebels from the Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC), a banned splinter outfit of the CPI (Maoist), have set ablaze several vehicles – mostly used for construction works—in the Palamu region.
On Thursday night, the purported members of the CPI (Maoist) barged into the camp of a private construction company which got the Government’s tender for the construction of the bridge. They snatched mobile phones from the workers at the camp and set ablaze two poclain, two tractors and two drill machines, the staff of the construction company told cops at the Keredari Police Station.
The workers of the company had sought police protection after a group of rebels visited the construction site on November 22 and threatened them of dire consequences if the construction work continues. Police, too, had assured protection to the workers. “We had asked the workers to only work under police protection. They did not inform the police that they will be working on Thursday night,” said Hazaribag Superintendent of Police, Mayur Patel Kanhaiya Lal.
Police suspect that CPI (Maoist) might be behind the attack, said Lal, adding that the investigation is in process and further developments may come forth in the days to come. Meanwhile, TPC rebels left a trail of destruction by arson in Malhaan area close to the border of Latehar and Ranchi this week. They torched three heavy vehicles besides damaging a number of other vehicles parked at a railway construction site. In Palamu’s Munkeri village, the splinter group torched one hywa of a stone mines quarry and beat up its driver Akhilesh Yadav.
Jharkhand has witnessed a similar rise in LWE violence soon after the conclusion of the Lok Sabha elections last year. Several jawans from central forces sustained major injuries in Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blasts triggered by the CPI (Maoist) in parts of Kolhan division.
The Assembly elections for the 81 constituencies here were conducted in five phases, over a period of 20 days, due to LWE presence in the State. The Election Commission of India (ECI) cited a report of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to state the reason for the prolonged elections. According to the MHA, at least 19 of 24 districts here are LWE-affected.