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MCC hacks 14 to death in Jharkhand

In one of the worst carnages after the creation of Jharkhand on November 14, 2000, the outlawed Maoist Communist Centre hacked 14 persons to death at Belpu, a tribal village in Hazaribagh district, on Saturday.

Hazaribagh Superintendent of Police Dipak Verma told the Press Trust of India that some 1600 armed MCC ultras swooped down on the village and locked up the gram raksha dal [village defence force] members guarding against extremists inside their houses.

The ultras, armed with sharp-edged weapons, later chopped off the heads of 13 GRD volunteers, including three of a family, before setting their houses on fire. An 18-year-old girl perished in a blazing hut, Verma said.

Top Jharkhand officials, including Chief Secretary V S Dubey and Director General of Police T P Sinha, rushed to Hazaribagh to oversee the combing operations to apprehend the ultras.

The police had recently destroyed bunkers of the MCC and the People's War Group in Palamu, Chatra, Giridih and Hazaribagh districts.

Angry villagers prevented the district authorities from lifting the bodies, demanding the visit of Chief Minister Babulal Marandi.

Hazaribagh Deputy Commissioner Amrendra Pratap Singh said the district administration had decided to make an immediate ex-gratia payment of Rs 20,000 to dependents of each of those killed.

Senior officials, including the deputy inspector general of police, are camping at the spot. The Hazaribagh and Chatra police have launched joint combing operations to arrest the extremists. An alert has also been sounded in the Naxalite-affected districts of Palamu, Garhwa and Giridih.

PTI

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