Maoists set bus on fire to mark shutdown in Jharkhand

Gumla (Jharkhand), Jan 31 (ANI): Maoists set a bus on fire to mark the shutdown in Jharkhand's Gumla District on Sunday.

Tasleem Khan, the bus driver, told reporters that the road was blocked with stones, and the Maoists opened fire following which he stopped the bus.

"When they fired at me, I stopped the bus. After stopping the bus, they told me to switch off the lights and fired again. After I switched off the lights, they surrounded the bus from all sides and told us to get down or otherwise they would fire on us. After that, my conductor got down, and the Maoists started beating him," said Khan.

"I told them not to beat him and tell us the problem. They asked me why we were driving the bus during the shutdown? I told them I did not have any information regarding the shutdown. They started beating us and told us to run away as they were setting the bus on fire," he added.

Digvijay Singh, the Station House Officer (S.H.O) of Gumla district, said there were no casualties, and added that inquiry is still on in the matter.

"This has been done by PLFI (People Liberation Front of India), Mangal commander and his people were present here. It is reported that this happened because of the shutdown but we did not have any news about it. We are investigating the matter," he said. (ANI)