Suspected Maoists attack road project office in Jharkhand

Ghatsila (Jharkhand), July 19 (ANI): Suspected Maoists attacked the site office of a contractor and set fire equipment and machinery used in executing the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana near Bhaduwa village in Ghatsila subdivision of Jharkhand.

Speaking to media persons on Sunday, an eyewitness said that a large group of Maoists took part in the attack.

"They burnt all the vehicles, and then told us to stay in a room. There were around 200-250 people. And they surrounded the vehicles, set them ablaze," said Jahir Hussain.

"They were shouting 'Long Live Maoists'. They have pasted a lot of posters everywhere," he added.

The Maoists are against the use of machinery for building roads and want locals to be hired as labourers for the project.

Maoist attacks have increased this year, especially after the government launched a coordinated security offensive, involving tens of thousands of police and paramilitaries trying to flush out rebels from their jungle hideouts in central and eastern India.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the Maoists as the country's biggest internal security threat, but the rebels say they are crusading against the prevailing political system, upholding the cause of the poor and marginal farmers and landless labourers.

The movement started as a peasant revolt in Naxalbari village of West Bengal in 1967, giving the name Naxalism to their movement and Naxalites to the cadres. (ANI)