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Naxals burn women alive
Suspected Maoists torched a house killing an 80-year-old woman and her elderly daughter when they did not find a CPM leader on Wednesday night.Their neighbours at Bagdubi village, who had kept mum for a day, called up Nabin Hembrum in his hideout this morning and told him his house was gutted and they had seen two bodies amid the rubble. Nabin, who stays 40km away in Khatra since the Maoists named him on a hit list, went to police after hearing what had happened to his house. The police removed its burnt remains amid the stink of rotting flesh and pulled out the bodies of Amala Hembrum and Saraswati Hembrum, 55. The Maoists had shot dead Nabins younger brother Kalipada last December. He had stayed back to look after their farmland when Nabin and another brother, Gabin, fled home. The Maoists had been hunting for Nabin since the CRPF shot dead two squad members on December 15, 2006. They think it was Nabin who tipped off the police about their presence in Bagdubi, a police officer said. The hit list was released soon after. Nabin was a CPM local committee member and a leader in his village. His brothers were party sympathisers. Residents of Bagdubi, a village in the midst of a jungle 210km from Calcutta, said 30-40 people came to the Hembrums house around 9.30pm on Wednesday. They went inside and we heard muffled voices and screams. We were terrified and did not dare to go near. Soon after, the attackers stepped out and set the hut ablaze. They watched it burn for some time and left. In the morning, we ventured closer and saw from a distance the burnt bodies, said a villager. Nabin and Gabin identified their mother and sister from their burnt clothes and bangles. Their faces had been charred beyond recognition. Since December 2006, this was the second time the brothers stepped into the village. The only other occasion was Kalipadas death. Revenge appears to have been the motive, Bankura police chief Vishal Garg said. The rebels would have known that Nabin wouldnt be at home. This is the first time CPI (Maoist) guerrillas have killed their targets kin in his absence. In May 2002, alleged Peoples War Group members had killed CPM member Sristidhar Mahatos wife and three-year-old daughter after he gave them the slip. A 60-year-old woman related to the Mahatos was also killed in West Midnapores Salboni. On December 31, 2005, the partys Purulia district secretariat member, Rabindranath Kar, and his wife were locked in and burnt by the Maoists in Bandwan. Although it was not clear why the Maoists killed Nabins mother and sister, police sources said it was meant to warn people against informing the police about their activities. It comes at a time when several Maoists have been arrested following tip-offs from villagers, the officer said. The Maoists are suspected to have abducted the teenage son of a CPM leader in West Midnapores Binpur. Branch committee member Motilal Tudu said one of his neighbours got a call last night in which a man demanded the release of an arrested Maoist action squad member in exchange for his son. The police said the Maoists wanted the release of Durga Mandi, who had been arrested on June 20. Six people came on motorcycles and took Srimanta, 18, away last night. Motilal has been staying away from home as he is on the rebels hit list. Posted by: john frum 2010-07-01 |
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