Jharkhand: Maoists threaten to kill those working on road projects; 6 vehicles blown up

Suspected members of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) have threatened to kill people engaged in road construction works in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district in their bid to create, maintain and further expand their liberated zones by leaving pamphlets at a road construction site on strategically crucial Arki-Bandgaon road through a Left-wing extremist (LWE) triangle connecting Khunti, Ranchi, West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan districts, the police said on Wednesday.

The pamphlets were found strewn around the road construction site on the under-construction 44-kilometre (km) stretch of Arki-Bandgoan road in Lupungdih forest under the jurisdiction of Bandgaon police station in West Singhbhum district.

The machines and vehicles, which were worth around Rs 2 crore, were blown up by around 60 Maoist rebels, who were led by Prabhat Munda, a close associate of the banned party’s zonal commander, Maharaj Pramanik.

“This 153-km Arki-Bandgaon road is strategically crucial from the operational point of view for the police and security forces. Lupundih jungle has a dense forest cover and is surrounded by hills and almost inaccessible for forces even though it is 18 km away from Bandgoan police station. The road is barely a dirt track inside the dense jungle. The Maoists have been targeting road construction projects in a bid to maintain and expand their liberated zones by restricting prompt movement and action by security forces in inaccessible, remote forest and hilly areas,” said Ajay Linda, superintendent of police (SP), West Singhbhum, on Wednesday morning.