Tribals lynch hardcore Maoist on Odisha border

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Rourekela, Mar 4:

A hardcore Maoist, who had escaped from Chaibasa jail in Bihar, was lynched by the tribals of Ranga village in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand bordering Odisha’s Sundargarh district, police said on Friday.

According to reports, the deceased, identified as Johnson Ganjhu (34), a native of Bundu village in Hazaribagh district in Bihar, was working under Samarji, president of the Chhotnagpur Zonal Committee, in Saranda area along Odisha-Jharkhand border.

The deceased Maoist, after escaping from Chaibasa jail along with 15 Maoists in December last year, had gone to the tribal village Ranga of Manoharpur on Thursday evening to meet Helen, a woman Maoist who was recently released from the jail.

However, as the tribals of the village, on suspicion, asked his identity, Johnson suddenly opened fire at them. The enraged villagers later attacked him with arrows one of which pierced his stomach. As he fell down, the villagers crushed his head with a stone.

Following information, Manoharpur police rushed to the village on Friday and seized the body. Police also seized a country made gun, two live bullets and three mobile phones of Johnson.

The deceased Maoist was involved in 39 cases in West Singhbhum district and bordering police station areas of Sundargarh district, police said.