Seven mutilated bodies showing marks of their brutal murder were discovered in a secluded jungle area in Jharkhand’s Maoist-affected Khunti district on Wednesday noon, putting both the people and the police on tenterhooks.
Alerted by the horrified villagers, police officials rushed to the site near Ghaghra village, some 50 km off Jharkhand capital Ranchi, and tried to ascertain the identities of the men found dead. Only two bodies could be identified and the rest, officials said, were beyond recognition. The hands of both the Maoists and the numerous criminal gangs active in Khunti were suspected by the police.
“They were murdered in brutal fashion. Their throats were slit, their faces were crushed apparently with stones, and their hands were tied behind their back. Their heads were placed under stone slabs,” said Khunti SP Venu Tamilvanan.
“We are currently clueless about the killers and the causes, which will be known in our investigations,” he added.
Policemen were taking the help of sniffer dogs to ascertain if the clothes and flip-flops found strewn around the bodies in the bushes in a secluded part of the hilly stretch belonged to the dead men or their killers.
Five of the seven dead men, some of them apparently killed a day ago, were aged between 20 and 35, said officials.
The two identified so far were named Teknath Munda and Sadhu Munda, they said. The seven men were reportedly abducted three days ago.
According to police sources, the murders could have been reprisals on suspicion of the seven men being police informers. But since no Maoist outfit has claimed responsibility for the murders, police are also exploring the possibility of criminal gangs having a hand. “
But criminals normally do not kill with such brutality, which is displayed by the Maoists who also aim to send severe fear and stern messages to the people through such acts,” said an official.
In Latehar district, teachers on Wednesday sat in protest against the frequent abduction of teachers reportedly by the Maoists.