After nine people were brutally killed in two related incidents in Jharkhand’s Gumla district late on Wednesday night, the state’s Opposition parties stepped up their attacks on the Arjun Munda-led coalition government for the alarming statewide rise in violent crime.
Four women and three children were among the nine people who were hacked to death in two villages in Gumla district, 120 km from Jharkhand capital Ranchi. Chief minister Arjun Munda of the BJP, already under attack from the Opposition for the mineral-rich state’s slow pace of development and a recent rise in crime and Maoist activities, quickly asked that the twin massacres should not be seen as a law and order failure.
Even as the police spoke in two voices about the reasons behind the massacres, Mr Munda said: “So far the reasons seem to be land dispute or family dispute. These are not law and order failures. I would call them incidents taking place all of a sudden”. Mr Munda, slated for a road journey to Palamu, had to fly by a helicopter on Thursday after bombs planted by suspected Maoists were recovered from the national highway he would have used.
Five people, including one child and two women, were killed at Taisir village late on Wednesday night, while two women and two children were killed at Brunda-Mahuatoli village early on Thursday morning. Sources said the nine victims were related to Ganesh Yadav, a dreaded local criminal.
Ranchi range DIG Sampat Meena said each member of the two attacked families was involved in crime. Jharkhand DGP Neyaz Ahmad, however, said the massacres were the result of a feud between two Maoist outfits — PLFI and JLT.