Maoists blow up building, torch vehicles in Jharkhand

Jamshedpur: Maoists blew up a guest house of the Jharkhand forest department and set afire eight vehicles of a construction company at Hurungda in Seraikela-Kharswan district on Friday.

A group of Maoists came to the spot in the wee hours and blew up a forest department's guest house lying abandoned for years till renovation began ten months ago, before setting ablaze eight vehicles of a construction company working in nearby area, Superintendent of Police Inderjeet Mahatha said. Some leaflets of the Maoists were found on the spot.

The incident occurred when most of the security personnel, deployed in the area for the past several months, left for an anti-Maoist operation last night, Mahata said. The company has been engaged in construction of canals under Suru dam project. Mahatha said major portion of the canal was completed under tight security arrangements by the district administration.

The construction work of the project remained stalled for decades, but the administration has decided to complete it by providing adequate security, he said. A hunt was launched in the nearby jungles to flush out the Maoists involved in the incident, he said.