March 31, 2010 11:56:25 am
A Congress block president was dragged out of his house and then gunned down by Maoists in East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand last night.
Fortythree-year-old Gobardhan Mahali,the party president of Dalbhumgarh block,was dragged out of his house at Majbhandar village by at least six Maoists who then sprayed bullets on him killing him on the spot.
Mahali’s body was recovered on Wednesday.
A massive combing operation was launched in Ghatsila sub-division to track the ultras involved in the killing,the police said.
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Condemning the killing,district Congress committee president Ravindra Jha who rushed to the spot,told newsmen the Maoists were targetting party leaders in desperation after the government had stepped up anti-Maoist operations.
There was no reason to kill Mahali who always stood for the cause of poor and downtrodden section of the society,he said.
The incident comes three weeks after the security personnel stepped-up the anti-Maoist operation in Ghatsilla subdivision bordering West Bengal.
The MLA from Jamshedpur West assembly constituency,Banna Gupta,strongly blamed the Jharkhand government’s “lenient approach” towards the Maoists for such killings.
“The state government lacks the will power to fight extremism”,Gupta,who was in Delhi,told PTI over phone.
Mahali’s killing took place just 24-hours after hardcore Maoist,Prabodh Singh Sardar,was killed in an encounter at Bagudih in the district on Monday last.
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