Ex-member of Maoist faction killed by village mob in Jharkhand’s Gumla

The villagers found ex-PLFI member at a shop where he was reading a newspaper. Seeing the approaching villagers, he tried to escape, but was caught by them and was beaten to death.

Thirty eight-year-old Sandip Tirkey, a former member of the ultra outfit People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI), was lynched by a mob of more than 80 villagers, including women with sticks, at Tesera village under Sadar police station in Gumla district, around 100-km from capital Ranchi, on Monday morning, police said.

The ex-PLFI member was lynched by a mob of more than 80 villagers, including women with sticks. (HT Photo)

The PLFI is a breakaway faction of the CPI (Maoist).

Gumla superintendent of police (SP) Hrudeep P Janardhanan said, “We have started identification of the villagers involved in the crime. Some people have been identified. FIR against them would be filed soon and arrests would also be made.”

Janardhanan said, “Tirkey was a former member of the PLFI. He was often found roaming with PLFI members and used to threaten villagers. He was also involved in extortion in the name of PLFI. The villagers were annoyed with him. On Monday morning, over 80 villagers from his neighbouring village killed him.”

The SP said, “Tirkey was involved in several crimes earlier and had also served a jail term in a case.”

Bargaon villagers called a Panchayat on Sunday night where they decided to kill Tirkey the next day. As per the plan, they gheraoed his house at Tesera village around 6am on Monday but he was not at home. The villagers found him at a shop where he was reading a newspaper. Seeing the approaching villagers, he tried to escape, but was caught by them and was beaten to death.

On the question of the panchayat planning the lynching, the SP said, “We are verifying the information. But if 70 to 80 people are coming to kill a man early morning, it is not possible without planning.”

The mob lynching hogged limelight during the previous BJP government in Jharkhand, which put former chief minister Raghubar Das government on back foot several times.

The Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (JJM) has claimed that a total of 24 people were lynched by mob in Jharkhand from March 2016 to June 2020.