At least 6 killed in Jharkhand, Maoists suspected

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According to police, the bodies of the six people were found in the forests of Hudindag village, under Khunti police station’s jurisdiction.

The deceased were identified as Zakir Hussain, Aman Yadav, Manish Pahan, Anil Pahan, Pervez Khan and Raza Khan — all in their 30s. According to police, Zakir, who was earlier with the PLFI, was leading the new group that was looking to extort levy.

However, Zakir’s elder brother Sabir Hussain Ansari, an autorickshaw driver, claimed that Zakir was involved in a fight with one Lal Mohan Yadav of the same village following the latter’s claim over land belonging to the Moharram Committee.

Sabir said: “Lal Mohan had been threatening us for four years in the name of PLFI. Some PLFI activists have been threatening us all through. We had approached the police, but they would ask us to bring proof. Zakir was involved in supplying building material. The dispute was over land that was written in the name of Moharram Committee.”

Claiming that Zakir led the committee, Sabir claimed that a village panchayat had decided to divide the land equally, but Lal Mohan did not agree and continue to threaten the family in the name of PLFI.

He said Zakir had gone with his friends and associates to Ranchi and was returning when the incident occurred. Families of the other victims were not willing to talk.

Khunti SP Anish Gupta said Zakir had earlier been a PLFI associate. “Lal Mohan is also a sympathiser of PLFI. Of late, he (Zakir) had been trying to form his own group. All the murdered people were part of his group,” said Gupta.

Khunti is among the worst Maoist-affected districts and a stronghold of PLFI, which is a splinter Maoist group. The police claim their activists mostly resort to extortion to fund themselves.