The Chandwa police in latehar District exchanged fire with the Naxals of the Sangharsh Jan Mukti Morcha (SJMM) for one hour on late Thursday night at Turahmu, three kilometres off the Chandwa police station. No casualty is reported.
Sources said that the police opened six rounds of fire while the SJMM fired more than double of it. A contingent of a dozen SJMM armed naxals reached the coal side on Thursday and demanded a hefty sum as levy.
In sheer desperation, the SJMM naxals took out the fuel of the two trucks of the Balaji transport and put them on fire. When the drivers of these two trucks resisted they were assaulted by the naxals.
The officer in-charge of the Chandwa Police Station Upendra Kumar Mandal confirming this incident said, "The SJMM naxals set afire trucks of the Balaji transport and has beaten the drivers for levy. Coal side work is unaffected. Security in the area has been stepped up," he said.