Chaibasa – In the second attack in three days, Maoists set ablaze a mobile tower in Bahda village, West Singhbhum district, late Monday night, police said.
Armed insurgents entered the village under Chotanagra police station jurisdiction around midnight and instructed residents to remain indoors. They doused the tower’s battery and control units with petrol and set it on fire, causing multiple explosions and disrupting mobile connectivity in the area.
The Maoists reportedly stayed for about an hour, leaving posters and pamphlets vowing revenge for the recent deaths of their comrades. The location is only a few kilometers from a police station and a nearby security camp.
Police arrived Tuesday morning and began a search operation. Residents were already anxious after a similar attack on a mobile tower in Jaraikela police station area on October 11-12.
The attacks coincide with heightened Maoist activity in the Saranda Forest region, including the killing of CRPF Head Constable Mahendra Lashkar on October 10. Officials attribute the violence to the Maoists’ “Revenge Week” (October 8-14) and their planned statewide shutdown on October 15 across Jharkhand, Bihar, northern Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, and Assam.
With inputs from IANS