Pathalgadi backers release abducted Jharkhand cops
RANCHI: Buckling under police pressure mounted by intensive searches, Pathalgadi supporters released the four abducted policemen, including the three house guards of Khunti’s BJP parliamentarian Karia Munda, in the wee hours of Friday.
The cops were allegedly abducted in retaliation to a police crackdown on Pathalgadi leaders who had ‘masterminded’ the gang rape of five anti-human trafficking activists 10 days ago.
A mob of nearly 300 Pathalgadi supporters on June 26 had attacked Munda’s house in Khunti’s Chandidih village and abducted the three police guards, Subodh Kujur, Vinod Kerketta and Siyyon Surin.
The abduction of the fourth person, constable Nagendra Kumar Singh, came to the fore only after his return on Friday.
South Chhotanagpur I G Naveen Kumar said Singh, who was involved in the raiding team, had gone to Munda’s house to drink water when he was abducted.
“The abductors released the four in the forest area from where they walked for nearly 40 minutes to reach Cyco police station at 2.30 am,” he said and added: “The four guards informed that they were kept in a school in Ghaghra village on June 26 and later shifted in forest area. Their arms, INSAS rifles, and magazines were also looted which were recovered from the same village on Friday.”
On the guards’ tip off, police launched search operations in Ghaghra village and recovered the looted arms, some of which were found inside a heap of straw. Searches were also intensified in many villages and forest areas.
Pathalgadi, a practice adopted by many tribal villages, involves the declaration of gram sabhas as the only sovereign authority. Huge stone plaques, called Pathalgadi in local dialect, were installed at the outskirts of at least 100 villages in Khunti, Simdega, Gumla and West Singhbhum districts to dissuade outsiders from entering.
COPS WERE ABDUCTED IN RETALIATION TO A POLICE CRACKDOWN ON PATHALGADI LEADERS ‘BEHIND’ GANGRAPE OF FIVE ACTIVISTS