No ban on Maoists in Jharkhand means headache for police

Ranchi, Jan 6 (IANS) The Communist Party of India - Maoist is not an organisation banned in Jharkhand, leading to a headache for the police.

Jharkhand is one of the states badly hit by Maoist terror. But the absence of a ban means the police can rarely frame a strong case against the rebels.

In December 2007, the police caught two employees of Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) allegedly giving Rs.2 million in protection money to a CPI-Maoist rebel. The rebel was also caught. But all three were soon out on bail, which they would not have been if CPI-Maoist had been a banned organisation.

The state government had earlier banned the Maoist Coordination Committee (MCC) and People's War Group (PWG). But they merged into CPI-Maoist in September 204, which is not banned.

Maoists are active in 18 of the 24 districts of the state. The rebels have killed nearly 1,000 people in the last seven years.

IANS