Maoists' mayhem in Jharkhand's Bundu area

Bundu (Jharkhand), Aug.29 (ANI): In a first of its kind revenge strike against the family of a farmer suspected to be a police informer, Maoists on Friday barged into a house and killed four persons, including a minor girl.

The incident occurred near Bundu police station in Ranchi district of Jharkhand when a big group of Maoists barged into the house of Digambar Mahato, hurled a bomb and opened fire.

The killing of four people including a woman and a girl child by Maoists has left local residents in Bundu, 50 kilometres from Ranchi, the State capital of Jharkhand, flabbergasted.

The killed includes Mahato's wife Bhudni Devi and college students Bijay Pramanik and Pradeep Kumar Mahato, staying at their house as tenants.

Maoists also shot dead Mahto's daughter Rita Kumari, 12, and injured her seven-year-old sister Beauty Kumari.

The incident has left the mother of the girl in a deep shock.

"How it happened we don't know. At night suddenly there was a lot of clatter. We were five families, and then our children and we separated and hid somewhere. Then there was constant noise of explosions like bomb blasts. We started shivering and we almost lost our senses. We are very scared now," said Leela Devi, mother of the deceased child.

The attack is second in a row in the past few days. Maoists had earlier torched five trucks on the Ranchi Jamshedpur highway.

Ten days ago Maoists fired indiscriminately on the same highway in which a village girl was killed.

Locals in the Bundu region say that such incidents have been increasing of late.

"Militant activities have increased here and due to that there is unemployment as well. Nobody feels secure here and everyone thinks that it can be their own or someone else's turn next time," said a local resident.

R. K Mullick, Deputy Inspector General of Police, says that Maoists need to answer how killing of innocent people is justified by Maoist ideology.

"Maoists and their high profile leaders need to answer this question that which rule, section or core of their fight says 12-year-old girl, 22-year-woman and 16-year-old boy, a student, should be brutally killed? This belongs to which section of their Maoists ideology?," said Mullick.

Maoist rebels claim they are fighting for the rights of poor farmers and the disenfranchised. The rebels regularly attack railway lines and factories, aiming to cripple economic activity.

Meanwhile, in a statement, the Union Home Ministry has condemned the brutal killing of four innocent civilians by Maoists in Jharkhand.

The Government has described the banned CPI (Maoists) as terrorists and said that it would take stringent action against them.

"The Government strongly condemns such brutal acts of killing innocent civilians. We should be aware that the true face of the CPI (Maoist) is that of an organised group of terrorists. Govt will take strong action against the perpetrators of violence and terror," the release stated.

The incident, the statement says, shows the intention of Naxalites to indulge in violence to achieve their goal. "This incident shows the true face of the Naxalites who resort to indiscriminate and motiveless killing including the killing of innocent children to achieve the goal of their so-called 'armed-struggle'. Such wanton killings are intended to instill fear in the minds of the common people."

The incident has shocked the community as Maoists claim that they don't target civilians. (ANI)