One policeman was injured in the gun fight with the Maoists after the rebels attacked the camp of a road construction company and burnt 30 vehicles and equipments worth around Rs 30 crore at Morandi, about eight km from here, police said in Hazaribagh on Sunday.
Around 200 armed Maoists, including women cadres, last night surrounded the Mumbai-based road construction company’s camp, asked the staff to kneel down before setting fire to five Miller machines, eight Hiwas (used in road construction) and eight tankers, one Batching Plant, a DG Set, besides other equipment, Superintendent of Police, Pankaj Kamboj, said here.
The police immediately rushed to the spot and in the gunfight a havaldar, Anand Mohan Das, was injured and the Maoists snatched his carbine as Das got separated from the police force in the darkness, the SP said.
The Mumbai-based company was engaged in the Rs 5000 crore construction of four-lane on the Nh-33 between Hazaribagh and Ramgarh from September 2010, the SP added.
Rajesh Kumar, Manager of the Project estimated the loss at Rs 30 crore.
Claiming that the reason behind the arson was "non-payment of extortion" by the companies to the Maoists, Kamboj said though the companies had received extortion threats several times they did not inform the Police nor asked for security at the camp.
{{/usCountry}}Claiming that the reason behind the arson was "non-payment of extortion" by the companies to the Maoists, Kamboj said though the companies had received extortion threats several times they did not inform the Police nor asked for security at the camp.
{{/usCountry}}Joint police operation was carried out in Bokaro, Ramgarh and Hazaribagh districts by the CRPF in pursuit of the Maoists, he said.