Maoists set ablaze nine vehicles

Alleged Maoists set ablaze nine vehicles of a construction company at Jhanpa in Jharkhand's Hazaribag district, police said on Saturday.

The Jamshedpur-based construction company is engaged in the Rs 100 crore renovation work of the state-owned Baksha Dam irrigation canal, located about 7 km from here.

Police said that about 30 masked men, suspected to be members of CPI-Maoists raided the Baksha irrigation canal area, locked in about 24 labourers and set ablaze the vehicles on Friday night, the police said.

Seven trucks of the construction company were completely gutted, while two others were partially damaged, said superintendent of police Mayur Patel Kanhaiyalall after visiting the incident site.

The attackers freed the labourers before leaving and ordered them to tell the police, if asked, that Maoists had damaged the properties, the SP said.

The contractor lodged a complaint with the police against unknown persons, he said adding a search operation has been launched to nab the culprits.

A large police force was deployed at the site, Kanhaiyalall added.