Jharkhand: Maoists blow up forest guest house in West Singbhum

JAMSHEDPUR: Suspected Maoists blew up a forest guest house in Barkela forest area in Chaibasa in West Singhbhum late on Saturday. According to the police on Sunday, a Maoist squad consisting of about 100 rebels used intensified explosives and LPG cylinder to blow the double storied guest house building. Two vehicles including a car and a bike were also burnt down by the rebels in the explosion.
“We suspect the hand of Maoist leaders namely Budhram, Ajay Mahato and others behind the crime,” said Chaibasa DSP, Amar Pandey.
In the posters, pasted by the rebels at the incident site before fleeing the spot, rebels have opposed the construction of the guest house in the forest area. Claiming that the forest land belongs to the villagers living in the forest area, the rebels have said the government has no right to construct guest house in the area.
Notably, Maoists have upped their offensive in the mineral rich district in the past few months in the wake of the security forces crackdown on the extremists in which over 25 rebels of CPI (Maoist) and PLFI have been arrested and five have been killed in the past six months. Police sources have said that the plan to set up a police picket in the area has annoyed the Maoists hence they are indulging in violent activities in frustration.