Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC) rebels torched seven vehicles owned by a private company on Monday late night near Katkamsadi Railway crossing in Hazaribag, about 95 kilometers north of capital city, police said on Tuesday.
The bike-borne insurgents set afire three Hyva trucks and four loaders at the site and left a letter claiming responsibility for the attack, police said. No casualties were reported from the site.
However, the incident has sent chills up the spine of locals and employees of companies involved in mining activities around the area, sources said.
Hazaribag Superintendent of Police, Mayur Patel Kanhaiya Lal confirmed that the attack was planned and executed by the TPC. While the motive behind the attack is not clear yet, the police are investigating the case and have launched a manhunt, he added. “They (TPC) have not mentioned anything about levy in the letter found from the spot of crime,” said Lal.
TPC, a banned rebel outfit, was formed in 2002 after a faction of the main CPI (Maoist) broke away from the group over ideological differences.
The banned group is primarily active in parts of Hazaribag, Latehar, Chatra and Palamu districts here.
Unlike other Left Wing Extremist (LWE) outfits in the State, the TPC claims to have waged a war against the CPI (Maoist). It has been involved in several clashes with other LWE groups in the past.
As Jharkhand gears up for Assembly polls, averting such incidents is a major challenge for the law enforcement agencies here, police officials said. Soon after the General Elections, the State witnessed a sudden surge in the number of LWE incidents, particularly in Kolhan division. A majority of those incidents, including Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attacks on security personnel and coldblooded murder of police constables on duty, were executed by the CPI (Maoist).
As per figures with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), at least 18 of 24 districts in Jharkhand are LWE-affected. Apart from the CPI (Maoist), there are at least 17 splinter outfits active in the State.
A latest report from the MHA says that Jharkhand witnessed the second highest number of LWE incidents in India in the year 2018.
However, the number of such incidents has reduced considerably in the past years – from 501 incidents in 2010 to 205 in 2018.