RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, Jan.21: Unidentified criminals on Friday night set vehicles and road roller engaged in widening of Ranchi-Gumla Road (NH23) on fire. The incident took place near Gargaon Bridge under the Itki police station area.
Notably, the criminals also assaulted and snatched the mobile phone of RKD Construction Company security guards deputed at the road construction site for the safety of men and materials.
The senior superintendent of police Kishore Kaushal and SP (rural) Naushad Alam did not take calls when attempting to comment on the situation.
A civil contractor confirmed the situation saying ‘morale of criminals is high’ and ‘security of construction sites depends more on the unofficial contacts of agencies involved in the developmental work than policing’.
In the intervening night of January 19 and 20, PLFI extremists set earth movers and other construction equipment on fire near Odaga railway station in Simdega district.
The incident took place when the extremists armed with fire weapons reached the site and went on a rampage threatening dire consequences in case of execution of work without their permission.
The extremists left the spot after leaving a pamphlet claiming responsibility for the incident. Police started a probe after the extremists left the spot.
Earlier on January 16, extremists had targeted a railway construction site at Kenduatand in Latehar where KEC Company is engaged in laying a third railway track. Extremists, who claimed to have associated with the Jharkhand Prastuti Committee (JPC), threatened dire consequences in case of continuation of work without the permission of Tinku Ji.
Prior to this, on November 22, 2022, extremists had set six pieces of construction equipment on fire and injured three site engineers by indiscriminately opening fire at Gujrati village in Latehar when work of laying a third track was going on.
Earlier, on October 21, 2022, extremists injured three site engineers near Bridge No.173 at Chandwa under Latehar district in the same way. The incident had taken place in broad daylight.
Notably, Law and order have come as a hurdle for those involved in developmental activities in Jharkhand.
