Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda on Thursday said the police was inquiring into the killing of Sister Valsha John.
“Now the police is inquiring into the incident. If required, a separate probe would be instituted," Munda told reporters here. The 52-year-old nun was hacked to death by unknown persons in Pakur district on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the mortal remains of Valsha was today laid to rest in Dumka district. "The nun was buried at Dudhiyani in Dumka this morning," former Jharkhand deputy chief minister Stephen Marandi who was stated to be close to Valsha told PTI.
Valsha came as a nun from Kerala to work for social causes, said Marandi, a Congress leader who had won five times from Dumka assembly constituency.
"She used to represent a local committee during talks with the management of the Panem Coal Company on various demands and other matters (pertaining to displacement), besides running a school and a hospital," he said.
She had set up a school before leading the anti-displacement movement against the coal company.
The nun, who hailed from Kerala’s Kudapali village in Ernakulam district and came to Pakur/Dumka 12 years ago, was hacked to death by about 35 to 40 unidentified persons at her house in Pachwara under Amrapara block in Pakur district.
On October 12, 2009 the company's deputy director Dinanath Sharan was also gunned down by suspected Maoists in Pakur while he was on a morning walk.
DIG (Santhal Pargana) V K Pandey had yesterday said the police suspect that reports of her withdrawal from the anti-displacement movement against a private company might have been the reason behind the incident.
Pakur Superintendent of Police Amarnath Khanna said after Valsha returned on November 7 from her village in Kerala, some villagers had protested her return.
No arrests were made in this connection. Jharkhand Disom Party on Thursday demanded a CBI probe into the killing.