CPI(ML) contests police claim

Wednesday October 31, 01:40 AM

The death of three "Maoists" in an encounter with the police in Lohardaga district of Jharkhand on Sunday may snowball into a problem for the ruling UPA Government. CPI(ML) workers, led by Neeraj Kunwar, are now planning to hold dharnas across the state against the police claim. They also claim that those killed by the police were not Maoists.

However, Lohardaga SP Subodh Prasad defended the police claim saying: "They had challenged the police patrol. This led to an encounter and they were killed. We recovered arms from their possession."

Kunwar, who led a dharna outside the police station in Lohardaga on Tuesday, said out of the three -Nukul Yadav, Helen Gudia and Joseph Topno - who were killed, two were members of their party.

"Gudia and Topno were not Maoists. They were innocent. The police killed them in a fake encounter," he alleged.

"We will write to the NHRC if the state Government does not register a case of murder against the policemen," said CPI(ML) leader Anant Prasad. Both Kunwar and Prasad demanded a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each and a job for the kin of the deceased. None of the state Government authorities, including DGP V D Ram and CM Madhu Koda, were ready to comment on the allegations. "Their allegations are bogus," claimed Lohardaga SP. With Jayanti Soren (23) succumbing to bullet injuries at Sadar Hospital in Giridh on Monday, the toll in the Chilkhari massacre has risen to 19.

In a related case, Deori police station Inspector Vidhu Bhushan Dewedi, his wife Rajshree and son Avinash launched a fast-unto-death at the site of the massacre, demanding revocation of his suspension.

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