Part-time scribe,his Rs 4-cr road project made him a PLFI target

Though he was a stringer for a local newspaper and used to get paid for what was published under his name,it was not his job that put Jitendra Kumar Singhs life at peril.

Though he was a stringer for a local newspaper and used to get paid for what was published under his name,it was not his job that put Jitendra Kumar Singhs life at peril. A representative of the Prabhat Khabar in Murhu block of Khunti district,Jitendra,45,was gunned down by the PLFI activists on April 27.

The motive is yet to be established. But the police,his family and even the PLFI aver that it was not his journalism that led to his death. Indications are that what Jitendra used to do besides journalism,to supplement the meagre income that his job gave,led to his killing.

The evidence lies at the site from where Jitendra was abducted,the 11-km-long road that connects Pasrabeda and Khatanga villages. The road was being laid under Jitendras supervision. It has been under construction for over 18 months ever since a Ranchi-based contractor won the tender of Rural Engineering Organisation for Rs 4 crore.

One of the eight partners of Jitendra in this venture,who preferred to remain unnamed,said,The Ranchi mans name is just on paper. We give him a commission,pool in our money and carry out public works contracts on our own. Khunti SP,M Tamilvanan,said the eight partners have been together for over 10 years. Four of them managed the administrative part and the others supervised work on the ground.

Jitendra was the leader. Being a journalist,he had links with administrators and access to the police. This apparently made it easy for him to fetch public work contracts. The SP said his access would have led him to assume that he need not bother with the levy that PLFI collects from local businesses and contractors. The usual amount is 10 per cent of total expense,payable in instalments.

We offer police protection to build roads. But since we cannot protect them once they leave their work sites,the contractors often turn down our support and pay the levy, said the SP.

Surendra Singh,Jitendras brother and Murhu representative of Dainik Jagran,said stringers taking up government contracts is commonplace. On an average,I get Rs 3,000 a month. It was the same with my brother who has been working for about 10 years, he said. The easy access to decision-makers also help the stringers to find financial backers mainly because less bribe money has to be paid.

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On April 27 at 4.45 pm,Jitendra and three of his partners,Hira,Jagdish and Naresh Mahto,were approached by 10-12 armed men at the work site. They asked us who the contractor was. We said it was a Ranchi man. Jitendra said he was in charge. They took us to a hillock,made the three of us to stand alongside and started beating Jitendra, said Hira,one of three who survived. At some point,they shot him and the three partners fled.

The police said that in October 2012 they had nabbed the PLFI area commander Munna Swasi. He was replaced by Asasean Purty who should have felt that the PLDI had a right over a part of the Rs 4-crore project, the SP said. The PLFI men had left a handwritten note near the body signed by Purty. Addressing Jitendra as aap,it said,you did not cooperate with regard to the project8230; Hence,we have to kill you.

Hira said the PLFI had never asked for money and the SP too avered.The PLFI presence in the area is also a surprise as the area is controlled by the CPIMaoist. However,one of Jitendras partners said the PLFI had collected levy earlier.

They would send someone once every six months or so. Their first response would be to stop work. Then we would negotiate over phone with them,trying to bring the levy down, he said.