Fifteen killed in encounter between two Maoist groups in Jharkhand

Fifteen people were killed in an encounter between two rebel groups in Palamu district of Jharkhand.

The outfits were Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-M) and a group that splintered itself from the party, Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC).

Members of the CPI-M were allegedly angry regarding a previous incident where their party members were killed by the TPC and wanted to take revenge regarding the same.

The incident took place in Koudia village under Vishrampur police station limits, when the TPC members were resting at a villager, Ramchandra Sav's residence, and the CPI-M members came and killed them.

After killing, the CPI-M comrades took the dead bodies along with them, shouting and threatening of undesired consequences if any villager tried to stop them or informed the police regarding the bodies.

"In total 15 people were killed, of which five were villagers. Five were men from the CPI-M and five were from our group," said a TPC member.

The investigation is still on and the police are searching for the dead bodies.