Lather, Jharkhand, May 4: Suspected Maoist rebels torched six vehicles and two drilling machines in Jharkhand’s Latehar district, police said on Sunday, in a possible attempt to extort money and spread fear in a mining zone.
The incident occurred late Saturday night in Turisat village under the Chandwa police station, a senior police official confirmed. According to Balumath Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Vinod Rawani, the damaged property included two cars, two trucks, and two drilling rigs.
“An investigation into the case has been started. A search operation is also underway. It is not yet clear which organization is responsible for the incident,” Rawani said.
Though no group has claimed responsibility, another police officer said a splinter faction of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) is suspected to be behind the attack, potentially to intimidate local businesses operating in the mining area and demand extortion money.
Workers at the site reported that a group of men in Maoist uniforms looted their mobile phones before setting the vehicles on fire.
Jharkhand, a mineral-rich state in eastern India, has witnessed sporadic violence by Maoist insurgents, who have targeted security forces, infrastructure projects, and mining operations in their decades-long insurgency.
