By IANS,
Ranchi : Maoist guerrillas have shot dead four security guards of a proposed power plant in Jharkhand’s Latehar district, police said Monday.
Around 20-25 members of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) raided the site in Chakla village, 140 km from Ranchi, at around 11.30 p.m. Sunday and fired at the guards, a police official said.
Three of them died instantly and another succumbed to his injuries while being taken to hospital. A fifth guard was injured.
According to informed sources, the rebels had demanded Rs.2 million from the private company that was to build the plant. When the firm refused to pay up, its security guards were beaten up a month ago.
“We had sought security from the police. A police picket near the proposed site was withdrawn after the Lok Sabha elections were announced. This encouraged Maoists to attack us,” an official of the company told IANS.