By IANS
Ranchi : The outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) has taken responsibility for the massacre of 18 people, including former chief minister Babulal Marandi’s son, in Chilkhari village of Jharkhand’s Giridih district.
“Our main target was Nunulal Marandi, the brother of Babulal Marandi. Nunulal was instrumental in the killing of several CPI-Maoist members and he has been raising his voice against our revolutionary movement,” Avinash, secretary of Banka, Bhagalpur, Jamui and Munger area committee, said in a statement issued Tuesday.
Maoist rebels dressed in Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) uniforms Saturday attacked Chilkhari, about 290 km from here, while the villagers were engrossed in watching a cultural programme organised by Nunalal Marandi.
Babulal Marandi was also expected to attend the programme but wasn’t able to do so. However, his younger son Anup attended the event and was killed along with 17 others when the guerrillas fired indiscriminately at the gathering.
Police have lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against 20 Maoist rebels and accused 10 of them for the attack.
As Chilkhari lies near the Jharkhand-Bihar border, police forces of both the states are undertaking a joint search for the Maoists involved in the attack. Police sources said paramilitary forces are also involved in the joint operation.
According to sources, a central team that is visiting the state to take stock of the situation has expressed unhappiness over the deployment of paramilitary forces.