This story is from April 19, 2019

Reds attack base camp of private construction firm in Jehanabad

Reds attack base camp of private construction firm in Jehanabad
Picture used for representational purpose only
PATNA: A group of heavily armed Maoists attacked the base camp of a private road construction company at Karpi in Jehanabad district late on Wednesday night and brutally assaulted over a dozen daily wage workers at the construction site.
The Maoists, said to be 20 in number, also opened fire to terrorise the local residents, who couldnot muster courage to offer resistance. Two of the seriously injured—Sumer Choudhary and Oma Ram—both residents of Jodhpur in Rajasthan, have been referred to the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) for treatment.
Police said the incident took place around midnight when the employees of Ms Mukesh Kumar Construction Company were sleeping at the base camp located at Rampur village under Karpi police outpost.
They brutally assaulted the daily wagers after holding them captive at gun-point.
According to the in charge of the base camp, Raj Kumar Bind, “The Maoists shouted slogans such as ‘lal salaam’ and ‘CPI (Maoist) zindabad’. On getting information, additional superintendent of police (operations) Ayodhya Singh reached the spot and inquired about the incident.
Jehanabad ASP Umashankar Prasad said the Maoists had demanded a huge sum as extortion from the contractor about a month ago. “We are looking into the matter and raids are on to nab the culprits,” he said.
Bind said that a pamphlet was pasted at the office of the firm about two weeks ago demanding extortion money. Local police officials were also informed about the matter. However, no action was taken.
The firing and subsequent thrashing has created panic among the workers. “Nobody is now ready to stay here. Most of them have left the construction site out of fear,” the camp in charge said, adding, “An FIR has already been lodged with the Karpi police station in connection with Wednesday’s incident.”
The company has been awarded a contract of Rs 3 crore for renovation of Rampur Chai canal. The work started on the project only a month ago.
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