RANCHI, 6 March 2007 — Shops were closed and public transport impacted yesterday as Jharkhand shut down for 12 hours to protest the assassination of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MP Sunil Mahto and paramilitary forces joined police in hunting for the killers.
Chief Minister Madhu Koda met Gov. Syed Sibte Razi to inform him about the incident Sunday evening — the 41-year-old MP was killed along with three of his bodyguards and a party worker by suspected Maoist rebels while watching a football match near Narsingh village of Jamshedpur district, about 140 km from here and only 15 km from the West Bengal border.
The assailants pumped seven bullets into his body.
“Paramilitary forces have been dispatched to Jamshedpur for combing operations. Our officials have spoken to their West Bengal counterparts to launch joint operations to arrest the Maoist rebels involved in the incident,” Koda said after meeting the governor, who has also summoned the home secretary and the chief secretary for detailed reports.
Koda went to Jamshedpur to pay his last respects to Mahto, who was general secretary of the ruling party, at the Tata Main Hospital (TMH).
The Jharkhand government has announced Rs.1 million in compensation to the police officials killed in the incident and a job to their family members. The bodies of the police officials were brought to Ranchi where they were given a guard of honor.
“We have launched a massive combing operation to nab the Maoist rebels. We have sealed the border of West Bengal. We are also trying to find the conspiracy angle,” said Jharkhand Director General of Police (DGP) J.B. Mahapatra.
Police is also trying to find out if there is any other motive behind the killing.
A high alert has been sounded in the state following the killing and the security of VIPs and VVIPs has been beefed up.
The JMM’s statewide shutdown to protest the killing was supported by other political parties like the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress and the All Jharkhand Student Union (AJSU). Even the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has extended moral support to the strike.
Emergency services and exams have been kept outside the purview of the shutdown. But the 12-hour shutdown brought life to a standstill across the state. Railway services were also disrupted in Ranchi, Dhabi, Jamshedpur, Giridih and other places.
JMM workers stopped trains at Ranchi and Dhanbad railway stations demanding immediate arrest of the killers of the slain MP. The killing shocked political leaders cutting across party lines.
“The incident is shocking. The government should show the willpower to fight the Maoists. Such incidents never occurred in my regime,” said former Chief Minister Arjun Munda, who also went to Jamshedpur to pay respects to Mahto. Mahto will be cremated today. JMM chief Shibu Soren, presently serving life imprisonment for his role in the murder of personal secretary Shashinath Jha, might be given special permission to attend the funeral.
