Two killed in Maoist attack in Jharkhand village
Jamshedpur, Sept. 7 (PTI): Maoists shot dead two persons after surrounding Digha village in Jharkhand for defying their diktat to boycott the recent Jamshedpur bypoll.
Two persons, identified as Nimai Murmu Dalpati and Badal Pramanik, were shot dead by the Maoists in Digha village in Ghatsila sub-division yesterday night, police said today.
Around 70 Maoists fired randomly after they assembled in the village and dragged out people from their houses to "punish" them for taking part in the August 29 Jamshedpur Lok Sabha bypoll, the police said.
In a bid to prevent the police from reaching the spot, the Maoists planted a landmine on the only road leading to the village and blocked the route with the branches of trees.
East Singhbhum Superintendent of Police Navin Kumar Singh rushed to the spot after he was informed about the incident and was camping there since last night.
DGP V D Ram also rushed to the village to take stock of the situation today.
The SP said the villagers told him that a couple of villagers were missing since the incident. "However, we have reports that only one villager was missing and we are trying to locate him," he said.
A massive combing operation was launched to track the Maoists who were suspected to have sneaked into adjoining West Bengal, he said.
Earlier, the villagers of Digha and adjoining villages held a meeting and decided to take part in the bypoll despite the Maoist diktat to boycott it.
The UPA backed JMM candidate Suman Mahato, widow of slained JMM MP Sunil Mahato, won the bypoll by a margin of over 58,000 votes.
Sunil Mahato was gunned down by Maoists at Baghuria on March 4 last.
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