RANCHI, SEPT 28: A single-storey eight-room building housing office of the Block Development Officer (BDO), Block Medical Officer (BMO) and the Circle Officer in Gawaan Block of Giridih district in Jharkhand was set ablaze, allegedly by some ``anti-social'' elements on the intervening night of September 26 and 27.When Giridih SP Dipak Kumar visited the spot this morning, he found three chambers of BDO, BMO and CO and two other rooms containing official records reduced to ashes. ``Only three of the eight rooms remained unaffected in the blaze,'' Kumar told The Indian Express. The police are investigating into the cause of the fire.The building was constructed in 1960 under a Central Government scheme for community development, sponsored by the World Bank. Over the past 40 years, the office transacted over Rs 180 crore for the execution of various projects in Gawaan. Last fiscal (1999-2000), the BDO's office alone implemented development projects worth over Rs 3.5 crore.``The crime might have been committed to destroy the documentary evidence pertaining to the alleged bungling of development funds,'' said a senior district official, preferring anonymity.According to the FIR filed by the BMO S.K.P. Chakravorty, a group of 10-12 unidentified persons gathered outside his residence at around 10 pm. ``They shouted, asking me to come out and repeatedly banged on the grill. When I refused, they marched towards the office and set it ablaze,'' Chakravorty said in the FIR.The culprits - who claimed to be members of the CPY (an extremist group linked with the Maoist Communist Centre) - left four pamphlets stating that they wanted to teach the BMO a lesson.But the police feel that the culprits do not belong to any extremist group. ``They were anti-social elements and merely used the CPY's name,'' Kumar said, adding: ``We hope to find evidence to nail the main culprits soon.'' No arrests have been made so far.The police also does not rule out the possibility of involvement of government personnel, including the BDO, BMO and the CO. ``Neither did anyone inform the district headquarter about the incident nor did they identify any one of the miscreants,'' Kumar said.
