By IANS
Ranchi : Maoist rebels killed four people in two villages of Jharkhand’s Jamshedpur district apparently because villagers had ignored their boycott call for the recently held by-election, police said Friday.
Around 200 Maoists raided Digha and Chakari village in Jamshedpur, around 170 km from Ranchi, Thursday midnight and abducted seven people and burnt three houses. They later killed four of those kidnapped.
The rebels were unhappy with the villagers as they had dared to cast their votes in the Jamshedpur by-poll Aug 29, despite a boycott call by the guerrillas.
Maoists had in March killed Sunil Mahto, MP from Jamshedpur.
Police officials have rushed to the villages and have begun efforts to nab the rebels. A Special Task Force team has also been dispatched from Ranchi to Jamshedpur to assist the police.
Maoist rebels are active in 16 of Jharkhand’s 22 districts. Nearly 950 people including 310 security personnel have been killed in Maoist-related violence in the last seven years.