J'khand govt dismissal sought for Mahto's killing

New Delhi, Mar 6: The Rajya Sabha today expressed its deep sense of grief and anguish at the assassination of JMM MP Sunil Mahto by Naxalites even as Opposition Members sought immediate dismissal of the Jharkhand government for its inability to protect the life of a ruling party MP.

As the House completed Question Hour and hurried through the process of completing the Special Mentions, Home Minister Shivraj Patil made a suo motu statement detailing the March 4 killing at Baguria village in East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand.

He said the Naxalites numbering around 40-45, including some women, suddenly overpowered the MP's four bodyguards, snatched their weapons, fired at him and his guards and took away INSAS rifles and ammunition chanting pro-Naxal slogans.

The Centre, he said, had provided Rs 450 crore for Jharkhand to tackle the socio-economic problems under the Backward District Initiative but the state had utilised only Rs 348 crore. This enraged not only the Opposition MPs but also Mr Santosh Bagrodia (Congress), who sought to know if this happened because of the ''red tape'' of the Centre.

He urged the Centre to provide all protection to the MPs against such attacks as the they had to visit even inaccessible areas in the country in pursuance of their political activities.

Mr Digvijay Singh, Janata Dal (United), demanding the dismissal of the Jharkhand government, regretted that the whole of Jharkhand was under the Naxal shadow. He alleged that the money provided for anti-Naxal operations was used for providing transport to state ministers and there was no hope for improving the security scenario.

He said there was no protection for the Jharkhand MPs in the state and even two Congress MPs had voiced their anguish over the working of the coalition government.

UNI

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