I saw my colleagues being stabbed… all over in 5 min: Jharkhand Maoist attack survivor

Source: indianexpress.com

Constable-driver Sukhlal Kudada, the sole survivor in the attack on Friday in which five policemen were killed by suspected Maoists in Jharkhand, believes he survived only because he was not in uniform. Advertising

“I was in civil dress and sitting inside the vehicle and I think that is why I survived. I saw my colleagues being stabbed and their throats slit, one by one. In less than five minutes, the ambush was over,” says Kudada.

Five policemen of the Tiruldih police station — two Assistant Sub-Inspectors and three constables — were killed in the ambush at 4.45 pm on Friday at Kurku market in Saraikela district.

Chaibasa DIG Kuldeep Dwivedi said police have launched a “sustained operation” to arrest the Maoists involved in the attack.

Kudada, who has been posted as driver at the Tiruldih police station for the last nine months, says that an hour before the incident, he had driven the team of policemen to Ichakdih village to attend to a call regarding a dispute. While returning, he says, they stopped at the Kurku market and all the five policemen stepped into different shops to buy water, cold drinks.

Kudada, who claims he was seated in the car when the ambush began, says, “Suddenly, some people emerged from the crowd and started stabbing (the policemen). They all had bhujali (daggers). I rushed out and tried to save one of them, but one of the attackers swung his bhujali at me and I ran.” He says there were at least four attackers for every policeman who was targetted.

While Kudada says the attackers were armed with bhujaali, Saraikela SP Chandan Kumar Sinha said the policemen had sustained both bullet and stab injuries, and that the Maoists fled with the weapons of the dead policemen. Asked if the Maoists had come without any firearms, he said, “We cannot say so for sure as cartridges, apart from those from police guns, were recovered from the spot.”

It was outside a utensils shop in Kurku market that one of the policemen was killed. Bhagwat Mahto, whose relative owns the shop, says he had come to the market on Friday to buy a goat when the attack happened. On Saturday morning, he has returned to take home the goat which he kept locked in the shop all night. “I first saw blood… people were screaming. I could not understand anything and I ran for my life. Soon, the attackers were screaming ‘Maowadi Zindabad’ and waving guns. A few had towels wrapped around their faces.”

Kudada, however, says he never heard any slogans. He claims that minutes after the attack, he heard gunshots. “The Maoists took three INSAS rifles and two pistols from the policemen and they appeared to be firing from it. They also seemed to video record the incident. This time, I ran for my life,” he says.

Kudada claims that he ran for 10 km, called Bobby Jha, munshi at the Tiruldih police station, and informed him about the attack, after which he took a lift and reached the police station in Tiruldih.

At the station, the munshi, who received a call from Kudada at 5.49 pm, informed his superior, Sub Inspector Dayanand Ram. “I called up senior police officers and a team was sent to the spot. When we reached there, there was complete silence and blood everywhere,” says Ram.

The police station runs with 40 per cent of its sanctioned strength. “Of the sanctioned police strength of 35, we had 15. Now, we have lost five of our colleagues. Our station house in-charge is under suspension and a few others are on leave,” says Ram, now the most senior officer at the police station.

“It could have been any of us… Our jurisdiction was never thought to be unsafe,” he says, worrying that since driver Kudada was the lone survivor, he will now face a lot of scrutiny. “Who knows if he ends up as the suspect…”

DIG Dwivedi, however, said, “The driver is not a suspect as of now. But as I said, we are investigating all possible angles.”

Doctors on strike in Jharkhand, OPDs across the state to remain shut on Monday

Source: hindustantimes.com

The out-patient department (OPD) services at government hospitals across Jharkhand are off on Monday after doctors decided to skip duty following Indian Medical Association (IMA) call to boycott health service in protest against the assault on doctors in West Bengal.

IMA-Jamshedpur general secretary Dr Mrittunjay Singh on Saturday appealed to the doctors of government and private hospitals to boycott work from Monday 6am to Tuesday 6am in solidarity with the assault on junior doctors at Neel Ratan Sarakar Medical College Hospital (NRS) in Kolkata on June 10 after the death of an 85-year-old patient during treatment there.

However, emergency services in all the hospitals and nursing homes will be operation. “Emergency service will be operational but OPDs will be closed as our members will be on strike following call by national chapter of IMA across the country. We have also appealed to the doctors in all private hospitals and nursing homes like Tata Main Hospital (TMH) to support the cause of doctors demanding security and healthy working atmosphere in hospitals,” Singh told media.

IMA-Jamshedpur president, Dr Umesh Khan, said all the doctors would congregate at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College Hospital (MGMMCH) at 10 am tomorrow and march to the deputy commissioner’s (DC) office.

Dr Amal Patro, a member of IMA, said doctors were all set for a decisive fight this time. “If government doesn’t provide us security, we will close down OPDs. We won’t tolerate attacks on us anymore,” said Dr Patro.

Meanwhile, city-based Dr SP Foundation, a doctors body in Jamshedpur, also condemned the attack on doctors in West Bengal and demanded strong action against the culprits. The foundation director, Dr TK Chatterjee, said murderous attacks on doctors were an alarm bell for the society. “We ask union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan to ensure adequate security for doctors on duty and healthy workplace atmosphere,” demanded Dr Chatterjee.

Jamshedpur has several leading hospitals like Tata Motors Hospital, Tinplate Hospital, Mercy Hospital, Bramhanada Hrudalayala Hospital, Medica Hospital and a host of private hospitals and nursing homes.

Junior doctors in Jharkhand protest against Bengal impasse, OPD boycott hits patients

Source: hindustantimes.com

Patients in Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Dhanbad had a harrowing time on Friday after junior doctors in the three government-run medical colleges and hospitals boycotted OPD services in a show of solidarity with the protesting doctors in West Bengal. Junior doctors across West Bengal are on strike since June 10, protesting against an alleged assault on a medical intern by relatives of an 87-year-old patient who died in Kolkata’s NRS hospital premises.

Junior doctors boycotted OPD duties at Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS), Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College Hospital (MGMMCH) and Patliputra Medical College Hospital (PMCH) and demanded that West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee take action against the culprits immediately. However, senior doctors across the state attended to patients, wearing black badges.

The massive impact of junior doctors’ boycotting their duties was felt at RIMS Ranchi where long queues of patients were seen at all OPDs. Patients particularly had a difficult time at medicine, surgery, skin, eye and orthopaedic OPDs. Some of the patients were seen returning from OPDs due to the seemingly unending queues.

Govind Mahato, a patient from Powarganj in Lohardaga town, about 70 kms from Ranchi, visited RIMS but returned due to the commotion in the hospital. “I had no information about the sudden strike of doctors. I came here for the medical examination of my ailing grandson but had to return without treatment,” said Mahato.

Malti Murmu (45), a resident of Namkum in Ranchi, failed to consult a doctor despite waiting till noon at the gynaecology OPD. “The hospital should not have registered my name in the morning if the doctors were on strike. After being registered, I thought the doctor would check patients in the OPD, but they wasted my time and money,” she said.

Before beginning their boycott, junior doctors at RIMS staged a street play on the role of doctors in providing health services in the campus and sought cooperation from all teachers for their OPD boycott. Junior doctors also wore helmets and staged a sit-in protest in front of RIMS director Dr DK Singh’s chamber.

“We strongly condemn the attitude of Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. We would be compelled to intensify our agitation if all the culprits are not arrested soon,” said Dr Ajit Prasad, JDA president.

Junior doctors at the Ranchi Institute of Neuro-Psychiatry and Allied Science (RINPAS) in Kanke also boycotted OPD services in solidarity with the JDA.

OPD did not function after 10.30 am at PMCH Dhanbad due to the boycott call by junior doctors. At MGMMCH, OPD did not function after 11 am. IMA Jamshedpur secretary Dr Mritunjay Kumar Singh said many doctors in private nursing homes also skipped their OPD duties in solidarity with protesting junior doctors.

Patients at Bokaro General Hospital (BGH) had also returned unattended from OPD as junior doctors boycotted services.

In the evening, the Jharkhand chapter of Indian Medical Association (IMA), Jharkhand Health Service Association (JHSA) and JDA took out a protest march from RIMS.

“It is unfortunate that doctors who serve patients day and night were thrashed and the government did not act properly against culprits”, said Dr Pradeep Kumar Singh, IMA secretary.

West Singhbhum farmers wary of Jharkhand government’s agriculture incentive scheme

Source: hindustantimes.com

Tribal farmers of Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district want to stay out of the state government’s flagship scheme Mukhya Mantri Krishi Ashirvad Yojana (MMKAY), fearing that their land would be acquired if they share land details to avail the monetary support under the state government scheme.

Confusion reigned all around the poor tribal population in the hinterlands after 2017, when the state’s BJP-led Raghubar Das government attempted to amend the British-era tenancy laws – Chhotanagpur Tenancy Act (CNT) and Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act (SPT), as well as the Land Acquisition Act, 2013. Though the government could not amend the CNT and SPT Acts, it successfully brought changes in the Land Acquisition Act to waive off the social impact assessment (SIA) clause for land acquisition, which enables the government to acquire land for specific purposes such as building of schools, colleges or hospitals.

The opposition parties, however, had fought tooth and nail to prevent the government from amending the laws in 2017. It charged the government of acting on behalf of corporate interests to acquire tribal land. A message, thus, was spread among tribal population that the government wanted to alienate them from their land.

The misinformation became so deep-rooted that even Prime Minister Narendra Modi had to assure tribal voters in West Singhbhum during the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaigns that no one would acquire their land.

Eyeing the assembly elections scheduled to be held in November-December this year, the BJP dispensation in the state has fixed a deadline for the state bureaucracy to disburse agriculture incentives announced by the government for fiscal 2019-20.

The state government, in line with the centre’s Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PMKSNY), had also announced that small and marginal landholders having landholdings up to five acres, will get an annual incentive of Rs 5,000 per acre for Kharif crop production.

But residents of many tribal villages under Manjhari, Gudri, Sonua, Bandhgaon, Manoharpur, Noamundi, Hatgamharia, Jhinkpani and other blocks in West Singhbhum district expressed their concern and reluctance to avail the monetary benefits under the scheme. They believe that government would take over their land if they share land details to avail the financial benefits under MMKAY.

Some residents of Jhangiburu villager in Manjhari block had even sent a letter to the deputy commissioner (DC) last week to raise their concerns.

Ram Soren, a Kisan Mitra who is supposed to collect villagers’ application in Noamundi Basti under Noamundi block said, “Out of around 50 farmers in his village, only 25 have applied for the monetary benefits.”

“Villagers are saying that the government did not give them benefits under the Indira Aawas Yojana and other schemes as promised earlier. Now it is luring the tribal people with MMKAY to acquire their plots in the name of financial support,” Soren said.

West Singhbhum deputy commissioner (DC) Arava Rajkamal, however, on June 10 had issued letters to 217 mukhiyas (village head), asking them to convince people not to get swayed by rumours. He had also sent a team of district administration to Jhangiburu village to sensitise the villagers.

On Thursday, the DC along with other officials, visited Asura village in Jhinkpani block to convince people to apply and avail the financial assistance that would help them in purchasing seeds, pesticides and other goods for better agricultural production.

“Farmers are free to use the said money for agricultural purposes and the administration is not going to ask for fund utility proof,” DC Rajkamal said.

He informed that out of 1.5 lakh beneficiary farmers in the district, only 38,819 farmers have so far applied for the scheme. As many as 12,800 farmers had received the first instalment of Rs 2000 out of Rs 6,000 annual benefit under PMKSNY. 35,000 more farmers have now applied.

“It is a rumour that farmers’ lands would be acquired or transferred if they furnish land details in Form C. Through the forms, we are just taking their approval for depositing respective amount directly to their bank accounts,” Rajkamal said.

“A group of people with antidevelopment mindset have been spreading rumors. Strict legal action would be taken against those involved.”


Jharkhand HC’s Intervention Saves An Old Man From Starvation

Source: livelaw.in

Jharkhand High Court has brought the much-need relief to octogenarian Munilal Yadav, a resident of Baghmara area in Dhanbad district, who was facing starvation for the past several days.

A division bench comprising Justices HC Mishra and Deepak Roshan on Wednesday took cognizance of the plight of old man and ordered the deputy commissioner of Dhanbad to submit a report on the issue.

Following the court’s order, the district administration swung into action and provided food grains to Munilal within hours.

Lawyer Harshvradhan Sahay, who had brought the matter before the court, said on Thursday that now the division bench has ordered for registration of a PIL in the case.

“I had seen the plight of Munilal in a television report and thought it proper to bring it to the notice of the court. Once court issued the directive, the administration initiated several measures for bringing relief to the man. Steps for his pension has also been initiated” Sahay said. He added that entire process was streamlined and benefits were delivered within hours of the order.

It may be stated here that Munilal is weak and frail due to old age and was surviving on the alms from his neighbors for a long time.

Jharkhand HC Stays Proceeding Against Union Agriculture Minister

Source: livelaw.in

In a relief to Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, the Jharkhand High Court (HC) has granted a stay in proceeding against him in lower court in a case related to alleged insult and provocation knowing that it would cause break of public peace.

Justice AK Gupta granted the stay on the ground that the complainant failed to appear before HC after a notice was issued to him in 2017 while he was trying to proceed in lower court, said Tomar’s lawyer Saumitra Baroi. The HC had issued notice to the complainant while granting stay in proceeding in the case in lower court.

It may be noted here that the case was lodged by Congress worker MK Azad at Dhanbad civil court after Tomar allegedly said that a few people compare Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi adding that the hair a moustache and that of a tail cannot be compared. The statement was allegedly made by Tomar while addressing a public rally in 2016.

Meanwhile, as per guidelines issued by Supreme Court, the lower court recently re-opened proceeding against Tomar after lapse of six months of stay. It issued a bailable warrant and directed Tomar to appear before the court in July. Tomar, however, moved the HC again to secure the stay. The hearing in the case would be in September.

Jharkhand: Two Days After Reported Missing, A Journalist And Two Others Found In Police Custody

Source: thelogicalindian.com

Three people Rupesh Kumar Singh, 33, a social activist and independent journalist; Mithilesh Kumar Singh, 45, social activist and lawyer at Ramgarh Civil Court; Singh’s driver Mohammad Kalam, 42, were arrested allegedly with explosives from Dobhi More at NH-2, near Sherghati, around 30 km from Gaya, according to a Prabhat Khabar, a local newspaper, reported on June 7.

The same day, on which the details of their arrests published in the local newspaper, a unit of Bihar Police raided the house of Rupesh in Ramgarh and Bokaro and seized his laptop, mobile phone and “Naxal literature,” reported Newslaundry. However, the writing which was being referred to as “Naxal literature”, was nothing but a few articles written by Rupesh in Laal Mati, a magazine in which he is an editor.

While searching the house, the police were not able to provide any warrant when asked for the same. “I kept asking them for a copy of the search warrant, but they didn’t produce any. They took away his laptop, a few books on Lenin, Marx and other ideological stuff,” said Ipsa Shatakshi, Rupesh’s wife to Newslaundry.


The Case

On May 4, all three persons went missing while they were on their way to Mithilesh’s ancestral village in Aurangabad from Ramgarh. The same day, Mithilesh’s family lodged a missing person complaint at the Ramgarh police station. However, the report was filed the next day.

Two days later, around 1 pm on June 6, Mithilesh called Rupesh’s brother to inform that Rupesh was fine and they were on their way back to Ramgarh. But the call got disconnected before Rupesh’s brother could further ask anything. “We immediately rushed to Ramgarh police station and informed them about the call. At the same time, we were also concerned about not bothering police too much, but just wanted to keep them updated,” said Ipsa.

The same day, on June 6, Gaya Assistant Superintendent of Police (Naxal) Navin Kumar Singh and Deputy Superintendent of Police Ravish Kumar held a joint press conference with three accused (masked faces) in the background.

“We were tipped off that an explosive-laden four-wheeler was heading towards Chhakarbandha in Dumaria. Subsequently, we beefed up the security along NH-2 and started checking the vehicles approaching Chhakarbandha,” said Ravish.

The police officials stated that the accused were carrying the explosives. They further said that Rupesh primarily supplies explosives to Maoists. The accused have been charged under Sections 414 and 120B of the India Penal Code, along with other sections under the Explosive Substances Act.

Ipsa, rubbishing all the charges levelled against Rupesh, told Newslaundry, “Rupesh always used to say that when you stand for the causes of poor and the marginalised, the establishment will try to crush you. That’s exactly what happened today. He has been arrested for working on Dalit and tribal issues. There is not an iota of doubt that the police is trying to implicate him in a false case.”

At the moment the accusations are one-sided, as local journalists were not allowed to talk to the accused and had to rely on information provided by government officials. “We requested police officials to let us talk to the accused, but they never agree,” a local journalist said, on condition of anonymity.

Ration snag in Jharkhand? Hunger probe team told of ailment

Source: telegraphindia.com

A three-member government committee on Sunday visited the Jharkhand village where Ramcharan Munda, 65, died last week and starvation was suspected to be the cause of death.

The team of sub-divisional magistrate Jai Prakash Jha, block development officer Priti Kisko and district civil surgeon Shivpujan Sharma spoke to Ramcharan’s family members and other villagers at Lurgumi in Latehar district, over 170km from here.

A villager told The Telegraph that the members were told that Ramcharan did not starve to death, but died of an illness.

The villager, who did not want to be identified, said Ramcharan’s daughter Sheela had told the probe team that her father had been ailing for eight days.

“He was first treated by a local doctor and then taken to a private nursing home, Bhagwati Sewa Sadan, for treatment,” the villager quoted Sheela as having said in the presence of her mother and other villagers, including the mukhiya.

“He was suffering from a liver problem. He had a swollen stomach and was not able to eat properly. The day he died, he had some food to take the medicine prescribed by the doctor. After eating, he slept. We thought we would give him the medicine when he wakes up, but he didn’t,” the villager quoted the daughter as saying.

Civil surgeon Sharma said the team spoke to seven people of the village.

“Out of the seven, four were family members. We came to know that Munda was ailing and was treated at a local nursing home,” Sharma said. “The report will be submitted to the deputy commissioner after two days, after probing some more aspects.”

State food and civil supplies minister Saryu Roy had on Saturday asked the district administration to exhume the body for post-mortem.

The civil surgeon said the body had not been exhumed yet. He did not give any reason why it was not done.

Right to food activists are not convinced that Ramcharan did not die of hunger.

“The government never accepts a case of starvation death and they have lots of ways to deny the fact,” Ranchi-based activist Balram, who uses no surname, told The Telegraph on Sunday. “I do not want to go deep into the matter. I just want the protocol of the investigation required in the case of starvation deaths to be followed properly,” he added.

Asrafi Nand Prasad, state convener of the Right to Food Campaign, said their team had also gone to the village and spoken to residents.

“They said ration was not distributed in the village for over two months. Munda was not physically strong enough to earn a living by working as a daily labourer. He also didn’t have food at home and some villagers helped him by giving him grains at times. His daughter, who lives in a nearby village, also used to help the father, the villagers said,” Prasad said.

“We fail to understand why she (the daughter) said what she did, if she did.”

11 Killed, 25 Injured After Bus Rams Into Truck In Jharkhand

Source: ndtv.com

New Delhi:  11 people were killed and 25 others injured after a speeding double-decker bus rammed into a truck following a brake failure at National Highway 2 near Hazaribagh in Jharkhand.

The accident took place near Danua-Bhanua area on National Highway 2 when the bus hit the rear of the trailer truck.

“The bus was running at a speed of 120 km/h when we got to know that the breaks are not working. The bus driver tried to control the speeding bus but it rammed into a truck coming from the opposite side. The lower deck of the bus got completely damaged and the passengers were pulled out from the bus after the accident,” an injured passenger Saurabh Kumar told ANI.

Pictures of the accident released by news agency ANI show the vehicle overturned and a crowd gathered at the site where the incident took place. 

“I heard the bus driver shouting that the breaks are not working and we should save ourselves, both the conductor and bus driver tried to save the passengers but they couldn’t because there was no way to stop the speeding bus,” another injured passenger told ANI.

Few of the injured passengers are said to be in a critical condition and they have been shifted to Ranchi for further treatment. 

Senior police officer Manish Kumar said, “We have visited the accident spot with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) team earlier as well, and that spot has been declared as a ”Black Spot” because at least 150 people have died in a road accident in the last six months on the same spot. We will be visiting the accident spot again with NHAI team for further research after this incident.”

Jharkhand Food Minister Orders Exhumation of 65-year-old’s Body to Probe Starvation Charge

Source:news18.com

Latehar: Jharkhand Food Minister Saryu Rai on Saturday directed the Latehar administration to exhume the body of a 65-year-old man for post-mortem in the wake of allegations that he died of starvation three days ago.

Reports published in a section of the local media have claimed that Ramcharan Munda, a resident of Lurgumi Kala village in the district, died of starvation on Wednesday after being denied ration over the past two months, a charge denied by the administration.

Talking to reporters here, Rai said he has taken a serious note of the allegation and directed the administration to follow strict protocol while carrying out an investigation into the case.

“If the reports are true and anybody is found guilty, he or she will be punished as per norms,” the minister said, adding the probe would cover all aspects in the case, including the allegation that Munda did not receive ration for two months.

He appealed to the opposition parties to refrain from politicising the issue.

Meanwhile, the sub-divisional magistrate of Mahuadand block in the district, Sudhir Kumar Das, asserted that Munda did not die of starvation and that his family gets all facilities entitled to it.

He also said the local ration dealer died three months ago, and his wife had taken charge of the public distribution system in the village.

“The administration had issued instructions to maintain offline records for distribution of ration following reports that poor internet connectivity is hampering transactions over point-of-sale machines. Munda and his family were given Rs 2,000 and 50 kg rice,” he added.

Several political leaders have reached out to Munda’s family after reports of his death surfaced in the local media.

Sources said local members of the Shibu Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha have given the family 50-kg rice and Rs 5,000 in cash.

Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) general secretary Bandhu Tirkey, who met the bereaved family on Saturday, expressed hope that the government will take necessary action in the case.

“The food minister takes such issues seriously. I expect he will take action soon,” he added.