The Panem Coalmines Limited, a joint venture company floated by the Punjab government and the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) that had signed MoU with the Jharkhand government to invest in coal, mine, steel and power sectors, had been facing frequent armed attacks from the Maoist rebels since October 2009.
According to official reports, more than two dozen Maoists armed with firearms attacked the security guards of the company on Tuesday afternoon at the mining site at Katahaldih of Amrapara police station in Pakur district of the state’s second capital Dumka.
Official source said that one of the security guards was killed in the attack and the Maoists torched three vehicles of the company at the mining site.