TMC man leading anti-Maoist forum killed
The body of 51-year-old Jitu Singh Sardar was found on Friday morning on the outskirts of the village, near the bank of a dam. The site is just 2km from the place where Trinamool leader and Union minister of state for shipping Mukul Roy will hold a rally on Saturday. The Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder in handwritten posters they left near Sardar's body and warned villagers not to join Roy's rally. Shantiram Mahato, Trinamool's Balarampur MLA, said, "The rally will be held as scheduled. We will not bow to such scare-mongering."
But police operations against Maoists received a major boost on the same day with the arrest of Joydeb Mahato, spokesperson and an influential leader of the Maoist-backed Peoples Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCPA), from a village in Jhargram. Mahato, who is wanted in 11 murder cases, is believed to have played a pivotal role in mobilizing support for the PCPA over the last year or so, and played a binding role in its organizational set-up.
If Friday's events were any indicator, Jangalmahal may be on the brink of another period of bloodshed, with chances of peace talks being revived appearing remote. Nearly a month ago, local Trinamool leaders, Sardar among them, formed the Jangalmahal Unnayan Birodhi Pratirodh Committee, an anti-Maoist forum and vigilante group in Ghatbera.
The forum also held a 'people's court', where two villagers with close links to the Maoists were reportedly put on trial and asked to give an assurance that they wouldn't join the Maoists. Ghatbera is considered a Maoist stronghold.
Sardar's mother said five youths knocked on the door of their house on Thursday night. "My son responded and went out. I inferred from the argument that he was not ready to accompany the group to a nearby dam, but was forced to do so," said Kunda, a septuagenarian. District police superintendent Sunil Chowdhury confirmed that Maoists were behind the murder.
But the Jhargram arrest, which was termed a a major breakthrough, boosted the morale of the police. Joydeb Mahato, who hails from Jhargram's Indraboni, had taken shelter at Apurba Mahato's house. Acting on a tip-off, joint forces raided the house at dawn and arrested Joydeb. Additional police superintendent Alok Rajoria claimed Maoist literature and IED-making material was found on Mahato. "He was wanted for 11 murders and scores of sabotage cases," said Rajoria. Police said Mahato was leading the rebels in vast stretches of Jhargram, Gopiballabpur and Sankrail block.
Civil rights activists condemned the arrest. Choton Das, one of the interlocutors appointed by the government to broker peace talks with the Maoists and general secretary of the Bandi Mukti Committee, demanded the unconditional release of Mahato.
Locals alleged that since Friday morning, members of a Trinamool-led vigilante group - Janajagaran Mancha - had been plundering villages. They also said the joint forces were protecting the vigilante group. "They have set fire to haystacks and are beating up locals," said Dasarath Mahato, a villager.
Source: TOI
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